


Whispers of Hannibal: A Short Story

by ShirotaGirl88



Category: Hannibal (TV), Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, F/M, Fanfiction, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 05:57:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 32,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13781190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShirotaGirl88/pseuds/ShirotaGirl88
Summary: This is a short story about Midnight, a young victim of the Collector that survived and became a 'monster' that the FBI controls. After being sent to London for a case involving Hannibal Lecter,  she and Will Graham start a three-way love affair with a man who happens to be none other than the cannibal they are looking for. Surprise surprise. [Canon & Non-Canon present]





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> [Author's Notes: This is set in London, UK. The time frame is present time, years after Lecter's escape from Clarice. The inspiration is from Mads Mikkelsen, NBC's Hannibal, Thomas Harris' Hannibal, and The Collector. Hannibal's age is also not canon; if figured correctly, Lecter was 42 when he was first caught in Red Dragon and late 40's-early 50's when he escaped in Hannibal. So to adjust it, I cut off a few years and made this Hannibal 47.]
> 
> [I do not own anything Hannibal or anything of the Collector. This is a work of fiction meant for utter enjoyment while my fellow Fannibals wait for Season 4 of Hannibal.]

**Prologue: The Jumbled Ramblings of a Serial Killer's Survivor**

* * *

 

_My flight back from Russia had been a long one and it was already night when I finally landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. My mom was supposed to have been there when I arrived but she wasn't. I waited for two hours before getting tired of waiting so I hailed a taxi and paid him to take me back home._

_The driver dropped me off just down the road from my house on Long Island Dr. I wasn't happy that he made me walk the rest of the way down the drive to my house but I couldn't complain too much because it was a beautiful night. The breeze was warm, better than the weather in Russia. I was glad to be back from my music trip. I was ready for my own bed and a very hot shower._

_As I hauled my suitcase down the driveway I noticed that all of the lights were off in the house. But I guess it wasn't that unusual considering it was around midnight._

_I unlocked the front door as quietly as possible and stepped inside. The house was silent so I locked the door again and left my suitcase off to the side of the door and walked through the livingroom and into the kitchen to grab something to eat._

_Just before I got to the fridge I stopped when I stepped on something that sounded like glass on the floor. I frowned and pulled out my phone, lighting the screen so that I could see what it was. It was one of mom's wine glasses._

_I sighed and walked over to the wall where the light was. I turned it on before heading to the closet to fetch the broom. I quickly cleaned up the glass and dumped it into the trashcan before I went back to the fridge and grabbed a yogurt from the bottom shelf. It was too late to fix anything big so I figured I'd just settle for a snack._

_As I was walking upstairs I thought I heard someone moving upstairs but when I paused and didn't hear anything else I shrugged and continued upwards. I resisted the urge to peek into my parent's room to check on them; instead I went straight to my room and closed the door. I flopped down onto my bed and scarfed down my yogurt, glad to have even that little of a snack. Plane food was just nasty._

_When I was done I showered and then dressed myself in one of my silk nightgowns, happy to feel the soft texture against my skin. I'd been wearing cotton nightgowns on my trip because I didn't feel comfortable with the group that I'd gone with. Most of them had been men and they had looked at me like I was a piece of fruit, ripe for the picking._

_It was so good to be home._

_By the time I got in bed my clock read 1:40 am. Sleep didn't take long to embrace me and I slipped into a dreamless sleep._

_When I opened my eyes next my clock read 3:28 am._

_I groaned and was tempted to roll over and go back to sleep but something had woken me up. I don't know what it was but I didn't feel comfortable just leaving it uninvestigated._

_I pushed my covers back and stepped out of bed, grabbing my robe hanging across my desk chair. I pulled it on as I walked over to my door and opened it. The hallway was still dark. I stepped out and closed my door gently behind me, listening for the sound that had woken me up._

_There was a small scratching sound coming from my parent's room. I frowned and walked over, opening and peeking around the door. The room was only lit by the moon coming through the massive bedroom window._

_I stepped in, leaving the door cracked open and inched my was towards the bed. I could make out the bed but neither my mom nor dad was in it. I touched the blanket and pulled it back to make sure but there wasn't anyone there._

_Just as I was turning back to leave the sight of a large trunk in the middle of the room caught my attention. I took a step towards it but stopped when the scratching sound I'd previously heard came from it._

_I moved towards it again and touched it. "Hello?"_

_There was more scratching from inside so I reached down and unlatched the locks._

_I wasn't prepared for what fell out when I opened it._

_I let out a scream as a young woman tumbled out, blood pooling where she landed. She tried to lift her hand but it was twisted at an odd angle and she couldn't._

_I let out another scream and ran out of the bedroom. "Mom! Dad!" I ran to the stairs and made my way down them as quickly as possible. "Mom!"_

_When I hit the bottom step something tripped me and I went tumbling onto the floor face first. I could taste blood from my split lip as I groaned and pushed myself upwards._

_I was just shoving my hair out of my face when I saw a shadow dispatch itself from the kitchen._

_It was a large man, his clothes black so that he could blend in with the darkness of the house. His face was covered by some sort of… mask. It was black but it didn't look like a ski mask. His eyes flickered in the light, reflecting the moonlight coming in from the window of the front door._

_I stared up at him for a few seconds as he paused in front of me. I was almost too scared to move but I knew I had to get away._

_I sort of crab walked my way past the stairs and when I was past them I quickly stood up, planning on running into the kitchen. The only thing that stopped me though was the feel of something invisible cutting into my cheek. I stopped moving and reached up to whatever was cutting me. I hissed and pulled my fingers away at the feel of the razor wire stretched across the hallway. I couldn't go to the kitchen._

_I slowly turned and faced the man blocking my way to the front door. "Who the fuck are you? What have you done with my mom and dad?"_

_The man cocked his head to the side and slowly pulled a long blade out of its sheath on his hip. He tossed it from one hand to the other as he moved towards me. When he was a few feet away he slowly pressed the flat of the blade against my cheek. "Are you strong enough for my collection?"_

_I was scared but one thing this man didn't know was that I wasn't defenseless._

_I grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it backwards, forcing him to drop the blade. He grunted and I used his arm for balance as I kicked my left leg upwards, hitting him across the side of his face. He dropped to his knee and I quickly let go of him so that I could run past him._

_I made it to the door and was trying to unlock it when strong arms wrapped around my waist and picked me up._

_I let out a scream and tried kicking backwards at the man's legs but he just chucked me at the wall. I slammed into it and slid to the floor, stunned. I tried to focus as the man knelt in front of me and gently wiped the blood pooling at the corner of my mouth from when I had tripped down the stairs._

_He leaned forward as if he would kiss me but I used that moment to smash my forehead against his. I heard something crack and then suddenly I was backhanded as the man stood up and cupped his hand over his nose. I slid over sideways onto the floor and just lay there dazed, watching as he walked back and forth, hissing in pain._

_I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees, fighting the feeling of nausea as I started crawling back towards the stairs. I'd only made it a few feet when I was stepped on and squished to the floor. My breath whooshed out and I groaned as he pushed most of his weight into stepping on me._

" _Pl…ea…se… stop."_

_I could feel my ribs bending and just when I thought he was going to break them he let up._

_He reached down and grabbed my hair, pulling me to my feet. He had to support me because my knees kept buckling. He stared at me face to face for a few seconds and his eyes glittered dangerously. I could see his depravity. He enjoyed killing and hurting people._

" _I think I like you." His voice was both whispery and harsh at the same time._

_I let out a soft whimper. "Please. Let me go. Please."_

_He smiled and his mask made it look twisted as he scooped me up into his arms. I could hear his heart beating calmly against his chest as he turned and headed into the livingroom. "I don't think so. I only need one for my collection and I choose you."_

_He made his way through the kitchen and to the back door. He dropped me to the floor for a moment as he quickly worked on unlocking the four extra locks he'd placed on the door._

_When he had the door open he scooped me up again and walked out, not bothering to close it behind him._

_He walked down the back porch and over to the garage where a big white van was parked. He sat me on the ground and opened the back doors. My head was spinning so much that I couldn't even attempt to escape. I think I had a concussion or something from when he'd slammed me into the wall._

_After a minute of moving things around in the back of the van he picked me up again and sat me in the back. He started wrapping my wrist with rope, tying it tightly until I could barely feel my hands. When he was satisfied that I couldn't untie the knots he picked me up one final time and dumped me into a huge open traveling trunk just like the one that had been upstairs in my parent's room._

_After he closed the lid and locked it I was left in darkness and silence. I don't know how long he was gone but it seemed like hours as I lay curled into the trunk._

_Finally I heard the van door open and it whole vehicle shook as he got inside. The engine roared to life and he pulled out of my drive. I fought back the tears that were threatening to spill._

_Unknown to me, this man, this sick man, had gone back inside and finished torturing my parents._

_Later, hours… days… I don't know, but later the police would find them in the basement. My father had been skinned alive and his muscles cut one by one, peeled away from his bones until he died from blood lose. My mother… he'd cut her up and burned her body until it was unrecognizable._

_I was the only survivor. That was his plan. That was his game. One for his collection._

* * *

[ **Four Years Later** ]

The first smell of freedom in four years came with a price; the price of my sanity. Four years of torture, four years of watching other people being tortured and killed in front of me.

Inside my head I'd become the monster that the Collector had been.

My freedom had meant his death.

Now that his blood had congealed on my body and in my hair and the leaves of autumn had crunched under my feet I didn't have to worry about his depravity anymore… except inside my head. I was the monster now. I saw the world through his eyes as I walked away from his castle of torture.

An hour after killing the man who'd kidnapped me and held me as his sick victim for four years, the FBI swarmed that castle in the mountains and found his depravity… his collection.

But they didn't find him.

When asked where he was I had said that I'd stabbed him in order to escape and that he'd slunk off to god knows where.

They accepted my words as truth and started a man hunt for him. They wouldn't find him.

He'd taught me well, this collector, and I wouldn't be telling my secret any time soon.

Nor would I give in to the darkness he'd given me; a gift he said he'd given me just before I began cutting his tongue out.

I was a victim, a survivor, and a monster.

I had no family; he'd murdered them after they hadn't made the collection. I had no friends.

The only thing left for me to do was to move on, to heal as much as I could… and to maybe give back to the world.

Being a monster had its perks, perks that the FBI would pay good money for as long as I went through the proper psychiatric help and finished my schooling.

I would become their monster on a leash.


	2. Part 1: Meeting Them

**Part 1: Meeting Them**

* * *

 

[ **Three Years Later** ]

Three years didn't seem that long ago when I still had nightmares about the man who'd kidnapped, tortured, and nearly killed me. I know I'd killed him but that didn't mean I was free of him. My dreams weren't safe. My thoughts weren't safe. The only thing that was safe was the knowledge that I wasn't him… even if I had horrific thoughts that could get me locked away for the remainder of my life.

Today was the day that I started my fifth college attempt. The only thing different about this time was that it was in London. I only had a few more classes to take before I could be considered fit to be an FBI profiler and I was planning on getting them done at my new university – King's College in London.

My schedule read as follows: Criminal Psychology, Counseling Methods, Understanding Victimology, and Private Piano. I also was being forced to go to the school's psychiatrist… who also happens to be my Counseling Methods teacher. I wasn't looking forward to someone picking at my brain.

Anyways, the FBI had helped me get a small apartment for my stay in London and a car so that I wouldn't have to take a taxi or a bus… I wasn't good with public transportation. Actually, I just wasn't good with the public at all. But I needed to get to school one way or another and a car was my best option.

As I pulled up into the parking lot of the university, I cringed as I parked. Tons of people were rushing towards their classrooms.

I took a deep breath and stepped out, reaching behind the seat to grab my backpack. Once it was settled on my shoulders I locked my car and headed towards where I knew the office was. I needed to get my official schedule and I needed someone to show me around the school so that I wouldn't get lost - an unlikely event but I just wanted to play it safe.

Stepping into the office I was greeted by a cool breeze from the small fan on the desk and the smell of coffee that had been on the burner too long.

The lady sitting at the desk stood up and smiled at me as I walked up to her desk. "May I help you, young lady?"

I gave a small nod. "My name is Midnight Whisper and I'm supposed to start classes today. I'm a transfer… from the U.S."

The lady's smile grew and she offered me her hand to shake but I gave a small shake of my head and kept my hands in my pocket. She just gave a small shrug and moved off to the side to dig for a folder. My folder probably. "So your name is Midnight Whisper. That's a very peculiar name, one I've never heard before."

I shifted back and forth on the balls of my feet. "My… my parents were the hippy type."

She finally straightened up with my folder in her hand and gave a small chuckle. "That would explain your name. Personally I think it's a lovely name and I'm glad we get a chance to have you as a student here, Miss Whisper." She sat down at her computer and began typing away at her keyboard. "So have you taken a tour of the school grounds yet?"

I shook my head before I realized she couldn't hear the rocks rattling in my head. "Sorry. No, no I haven't had the chance yet. I just arrived in London yesterday and I was busy unpacking my things."

"Oh, well that's alright then." She stood up and handed me my printed schedule. "This is your official schedule for this semester, Miss Whisper, and if you'll wait a moment I'll call someone to come show you around to all your classes."

"Mrs. Lane."

I felt my heart flutter at the sound of a man's accented voice behind me. I clutched my books and looked down at the floor, afraid of seeing who was behind me.

"Ah! Mr. Mathiasen."

I felt the air behind me shift as this Mr. Mathiasen stepped up behind me. "I couldn't help but overhear that you needed someone shown around the university. May I be of some assistance?"

Mrs. Lane quickly walked around her desk until she was standing beside both me and Mr. Mathiasen. She motioned for me to turn and face the man so I slowly did, dragging my feet a little. I refused to look anywhere but at his shoes… which happened to be spotlessly clean and polished.

"Miss Whisper, I'd like to introduce you to one of your teachers. This is Mr. Mathiasen, he teaches your Counseling Methods class… and, if your schedule is correct, he's also going to be seeing you for counseling as well."

I clinched my jaw at having those words spoken aloud. I was a little sensitive when it came to me having to see a shrink. I gave a small grunt and a nod. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Mathiasen."

Mr. Mathiasen gave a small laugh but he never offered me his hand nor did he push on the subject of me being his patient. "Miss Whisper. I would like to ask your permission to escort you around campus. Only if you feel comfortable though. I understand some students are… reluctant to talk with a teacher if it isn't about homework or extra credit."

"I…" I shifted a little and slowly tilted my head upwards until I could just barely see the bottom of his chin.

I didn't like looking into people's eyes very often. I was afraid they would see into my soul and see what kind of person I really was inside – a monster.

His clothes were clean and wrinkleless, his tie knotted perfectly. He had a light shadow of whiskers on his chin and jaw where he'd shaved earlier and his hair lightly curled around his ears. Everything about him screamed male perfection while my heart started to pitter-patter against my chest.

I took another breath and tried speaking again. "I guess I wouldn't mind being shown around. It's better than getting lost on my own and missing my first day of classes."

Mr. Mathiasen turned towards Mrs. Lane again and gave a small bow. "I'll take her from here, Mrs. Lane." Mrs. Lane gave a small clap before she hurried back behind her desk, wishing me a good semester as me and Mr. Mathiasen stepped out of the office.

He guided me outside and stopped me at the top of the stairs. "Miss Whisper, I'd like to ask you a question and I want you to know you don't have to give me an answer right now." He paused a moment before continuing. "Please look at me."

I sucked in a shallow breath and reached up to tuck my hair behind my ears before tilting my face completely upwards so that I could look him in the eyes, something I rarely did for anyone. "Ask."

He inclined his head and gave a small grin. His lips weren't full; instead they were slim and tilted like an awkward bow but when he gave that small grin I couldn't stop myself from swallowing roughly. "Are you afraid of me?"

My rough swallow turned into a small gasp as I took a small step backwards, tittering on the edge of the staircase. "Why would you ask that? I think it's rather inappropriate to ask your students something like that."

Mr. Mathiasen took that small step back from me and reached out to touch the pulse at the base of my throat. "I'm asking because I'm not blind. You're pulse started racing with fear the second you heard me speak behind you. I just wanted to be sure and… I don't want to force you into counseling if you're not comfortable around me."

I shrugged away his hand and took a step down away from him.

In a matter of moments he'd spotted one of my weaknesses, one of my fears. A fear that had been hard to get over considering I'd nearly been killed by a man. It made me uncomfortable to think about, having my walls torn down so quickly by someone who knew nothing about me.

"Mr. Mathiasen, I think that I can find my own way to my classes. I… I'll just…" I turned away with the hopes of escaping before my panic started setting in. It wasn't just him, but all men. I wasn't necessarily afraid of him… more like cautious.

Mr. Mathiasen reached out and quickly grabbed my hand, gently squeezing it. "Breathe, Miss Whisper. I'm not going to hurt you. Rather, I should apologize for asking such a thing. It was indeed wrong. We're not in my office and I'm not you're psychiatrist just yet."

I looked down at the weathered hand holding mine and then back up at him, meeting his dark brown eyes. There was darkness inside of him, I could see it in his eyes, but he really didn't want to harm me. There was something of interest there. Something just behind the surface, something which felt like a dark, private secret no one was supposed to know.

I found myself moving back up the steps until I was level with him. "You won't hurt me, will you?"

He grinned. "Not me, Miss. Whisper. Not me."

"But who then?"

He gave a slow blink before pulling away from me and releasing my hand. "We should start with that tour before you end up missing all of your classes today."

In an instant he was back to being a blank slate, a man who screamed the need for perfection and order; the need for control.

I couldn't help but blink up at him like he'd just given me whip-lash.

I frowned and slowly nodded, unsure of what had just happened. "Sure, Mr. Mathiasen. I'm sorry for freaking out. I just got to London yesterday so it's probably just jetlag making me this emotional."

Mr. Mathiasen just gave a nod of his head and beckoned me down the steps. "Not a problem, Miss Whisper."

* * *

It was now the end of the day and my first round of classes were done. They had gone a lot smoother than I'd have originally thought, considering that I was behind by a few months. But the teachers seemed to understand so I planned on catching up as quickly as I could.

Now the only thing I had left to do today was go to my first session with Mr. Mathiasen.

That initial scare this morning had finally worn off and I was actually curious as to what kind of man Mr. Mathiasen was. There was just something about him that struck me as unique. I couldn't place it but the monster inside of me, my horrifying imagination, had lifted its head and caught the scent.

I nervously tugged at my headphones as I made my way towards Mr. Mathiasen's office. Most of the students had left campus so I was able to quickly weave my way around the few remaining people and stop in front of his office.

I gave a gentle rap and pressed my ear against the door. I heard the strains of Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, II Adagio for a moment before hearing cloth moving against cloth and Mr. Mathiasen's footsteps.

I stepped back just as he answered the door. I tipped my head up to meet his eyes as he blinked down at me. He was much taller than me and filled the doorway. "Miss Whisper. You're early."

I shuffled a little on the balls of my feet. "I'm sorry. I just got out of classes and I figured I'd head over early so we can get this thing done with. I'm…" I paused and looked down at the floor. "I'm not fond of having someone pick at my brain."

Mr. Mathiasen stifled a small laugh with his hand which caused me to look up and arch a brow at him. His eyes seemed to have taken on a certain sparkle of amusement and that mysterious darkness peeked through again. "You don't have to worry about me… picking at your brain." He stepped to the side and held his door open so I could step past him. "Please, come in. I just have to finish grading a few assignments before we can get started."

As I stepped around him I got a peek at the décor of his office. It wasn't what I had expected.

Many of the psychiatrist's offices weren't very organized; instead they were cluttered with paintings, books, and sculptures. Things that didn't have any flow or theme, just things the psychiatrist thought would best reflect his or her tastes.

Mr. Mathiasen's office was so organized that I couldn't find anything out of order. The bookcases touched the arching ceiling and were filled with hundreds of perfectly organized books. His desk sat at the far side of the office, neatly stacked with papers that framed his open laptop. In the center, just in front of me, were two black leather reclined chairs with tables on each side. One held a blank tablet of paper and the other a box of tissues. His walls were painted a very soft, almost whispery blue. His office definitely had flow to it.

I slowly turned as Mr. Mathiasen closed the door and gave a small smile. "You're office is much better than my other shrink's offices."

Mr. Mathiasen gave a small nod of his head and moved towards his desk. "Thank you." His stride was confident and stealthy, much like a cat with each graceful step. He slid into his leather chair and picked up one of the surrounding papers before peering at me over the top of his laptop. "You may take a seat if you like. Or you can look at my books. Most of them aren't in English I'm afraid. I'm a bit of a collector of foreign books. Latin, French, Lithuanian."

I sat my backpack down beside the leather chair with the tissues next to it and turned back to arch a brow at him. "Lithuanian?"

He gave the smallest of shrugs. "My family originated from Lithuania. I find the language interesting."

"Oh." He looked back down at the paper he was grading so I slowly walked over to one of the bookcases and gently touched the spines of the books I could reach. Being five foot four made it kind of hard to get to things higher up. "So what made you want to do psychiatry, Mr. Mathiasen?"

"I find humans to be rather interesting."

His answer was good enough for me so I just continued on along the bookcases, moving closer to where Mr. Mathiasen's desk sat.

When I was level with it I grabbed one of the books off of the shelf and turned to face him, gently cracking it open. The pages smelled old, a musty scent that I really liked. "Do you have any family, Mr. Mathiasen? A wife and children? Brothers and sisters?"

Mr. Mathiasen didn't respond right away but waited until he was finished marking on the paper in his hand before tilting his head to the side. A lock of his hair shifted across the bridge of his nose but he didn't bother to move it. "No. My parents and my sister have been dead for a long time. And no woman has ever piped my interest in marriage. My only relationship is my job."

I shifted my attention away from his observant brown eyes and turned my back to him so that I could place the book back where it had been… and so that he couldn't see me. "My family is gone too."

Mr. Mathiasen was as silent as a cat because I didn't know he'd moved away from his desk until his hand gently touched my shoulder and his voice rumbled behind me. "Tell me about them."

I shook my head and gripped the shelf in front of me. Mr. Mathiasen gently reached up and one by one pulled my fingers away from the shelf before guiding me back towards the chairs. "I won't say anything or write anything down if that will make you feel more comfortable, but talking about your family would be a good place to start."

I sat down and slid all the way back against the chair and pulled my knees up against my chest. I started a light rocking motion and watched as Mr. Mathiasen took a seat in front of me. "Did you read my file that was sent along with my school application?"

"No."

I frowned. "Isn't that what you're supposed to do though? Do some research on your patient before sitting down and make them repeat everything?"

Mr. Mathiasen leaned back in his chair and crossed one of his legs over the other, resting his hands on his raised knee. "I'm not like other psychiatrists. I have my own methods and one of them is to start fresh with each new patient. I'm not going to look at what the others have said because they're not me."

We both stared at each other for a few moments before I broke eye contact and started to pick at a thread from my jeans. "My mother and father were middle class Americans. My father, James, worked for a bank while my mother, Marionette, sold Avon and took care of the house. I was their only child and they wanted the best for me so they sent me to a private school from the time I was eligible to go till I was…" I closed my eyes and started rocking back and forth again. Memories of my parent's smiles flashed in my mind and their screams filled the silence. "They were murdered when I was seventeen."

Mr. Mathiasen's breath hitched and I heard him lean forward in his chair. "Did you see it happen?"

"Yes."

"Were you scared?"

"… yes." I whispered it as I peeked out from behind my bangs at him. His eyes were darker than they had been previously, almost black, and his lips were slightly parted. The monster inside my head seemed almost to purr at the sight of his fascination with my fear. There was no way of missing it and strangely it was attractive to me.

"Tell me what happened."

I watched him for a few more seconds before I shook my head and straightened my legs so that I could lean forward, mirroring Mr. Mathiasen's body. "Have you ever heard of a man called the Collector?"

He gave the barest of nods. "A man who collects people like an entomologist would collect bugs. If they don't make his collection he kills them. He keeps one victim from every place he kills. Usually he hunts families in their homes, setting traps for them and then tortures them… testing to see if they were perfect for his grotesque collection."

His words were all correct. That's exactly who the Collector was and that's who had tortured me for four years.

I licked my lips before speaking. "They didn't make the collection."

"But you did, didn't you?"

I inclined my head in acknowledgement as I watched his hands smooth along his tie and his chest rise and fall beneath his shirt. They were the only signs that he was enjoying this conversation. "Have you studied the monsters, Mr. Mathiasen?"

"One or two… but they were years ago before I settled down as a…  _normal_  psychiatrist."

He watched me intently as I stood up and picked up my bag, sliding my arms through the straps. As I moved to the door of his office and placed my hand on the handle I looked over my shoulder at him and smiled a sad smile. "I'm a monster too."

After the door closed behind me I slumped against it for a few moments and pressed my palms against my eyes. Even admitting that I was a monster brought out my darkness but adding that to remembering what had happened to me made it worse.

The sound of footsteps moving towards the door sent me stumbling away as I escaped outside as fast as I could. I didn't want anyone to see me in this state and I didn't want Mr. Mathiasen to judge me for my reactions.

When I got to my car I unlocked it and threw my backpack into the passenger seat as I slid behind the wheel. I turned the car on but didn't shift it into drive; instead I wrapped my arms around the steering wheel and pressed my head against my hands, banging it gently. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I'm so stupid."

Finally after my thoughts stilled and my heart rate dropped back to normal I sat up and pushed my eyes out of my hair before shifting into drive.

The ride home was quite, without the radio on and without my phone ringing. I liked it that way.

When I got home I locked my car in the garage and slipped inside my house. Domino, my tomcat, curled around my ankles and meowed up at me.

I smiled and leaned down to pick him up, burying my face against his fur. "Hey, Domino. What'cha doing? Did you miss me, buddy?" He butted his head against my chin and made me giggle. "I bet I know what you want, huh?"

As I stepped into the kitchen and plopped Domino down onto the counter I reached over and pushed the button for my voice messages.

_-"Midnight, this is Crawford. Just wanted to let you know I'm sending an agent to London because we need your help on an old case that has resurfaced. I know you've got classes but if you could help us with this it would be wonderful. Our regular profiler is… having trouble. He should be in London by the time you get this message so don't freak if you're approached by a strange guy. Call me."-_

I sighed and deleted the message before digging around in the cabinets above the dishwasher for some wet kitty food.

"Want me to help on a case. Sending an agent. Blah, blah. I haven't even been here more than two days."

I popped open the can and scooped it into Domino's food bowl. I scratched down his back as he began stuffing his face with salmon and cheese. "Do you think I should call him and tell him I can't help right now? I'm not officially an agent yet." Domino ignored me as he chowed down.

I gave another sigh and pushed away from the counter. "Turd."

I pulled my cell out of my pocket and speed dialed Fishburne. He answered on the second ring. "Crawford here, what do you want?"

"You told me to call."

"Has Will arrived yet?"

"Who's Will?"

"The agent I sent."

"Oh." I walked into the livingroom and pulled down one of the blinds to peek out at the street. No one was out there. "Nope, he's not here yet."

Crawford growled into the phone. "Dammit."

"Uhu… why send him anyways? I'm kinda busy with school you know."

I could practically hear Crawford roll his eyes. "He has pure empathy… he… he can get into the mind of the monsters… essentially recreating the crimes."

My pulse jumped at the word monster and I swallowed roughly, my throat suddenly dry. "And I'm practically one so you thought we should team up."

Crawford lowered his voice calmingly, something he rarely did. "You're not a monster, Midnight. We've talked about this. Just because you saw what you saw and think what you think doesn't make you one. You're only a monster if you act on those thoughts. Everyone thinks about killing someone at one time or another but that doesn't make us monsters. It's the actions, Midnight, not solely our thoughts."

"So you say." I turned away from the window and plopped down onto my couch, closing my eyes and pressing my free palm against my forehead. "Tell me about Will so I don't mistake him as someone trying to kill me and then I end up killing him."

"Midnight."

"What?! I'm just saying, jeesh."

Crawford was silent for a long moment before answering me. "Will is special. He… he's kind of more or less along the spectrum of Asperger's… so he is still valuable. He doesn't  _have_  Asperger's, if that makes sense, but his mind works that way; he has an empathy disorder where he reads too much in a person or situation and it overwhelms him. He hates being social and he regularly has nightmares after cases because he literally places himself in the minds of the monsters. That's what allows him to catch them. He becomes them. Afterwards it's hard for him to return to his real self and his nightmares are a part of that process. He doesn't like being touched and he doesn't like looking people in the eyes when he talks to them. And…" Crawford's pause made me frown against my palm. "And he's also been the victim of a serial killer."

"So he's a nut like me, right?"

"In a sense, yes."

I groaned and sat up so that I could pick at my pants again. "Great. I'm so thrilled to work with him." I let my sarcasm drip as much as possible in the hopes of Fishburne catching onto it.

"Shut it, Midnight."

"Whatever. I'm hanging up now so I can wait joyfully to greet my new partner. Bye."

"Wait…" I hung up before Fishburne could continue what he was saying. I glared at my phone before tossing it onto the livingroom table.

Before I could decide what to do there was a light knock on my front door. I reached under one of my couch cushions and pulled out my small Browning handgun and then headed to the door. I peeked through the peephole and found a mass of dark brown curls blocking my view. "Back up and let me see your face… and tell me your name."

The man took a couple slow steps backwards until I could see his face clearly. He had scruff on his chin and jaws and his hair looked like it could be combed… even though the curls were cute. His classes were almost bug-like but suited him perfectly. As if he could feel my eyes on his glasses he absently pushed them up the bridge of his nose. "My name is Will… Will Graham. Jack Crawford sent me… I… I'm sorry I'm a little late. I got lost. This neighborhood is rather distracting."

I stared out at him for a few more seconds before I began unlocking my deadbolts and other locks. I never came in through the front door but when I did it took me a long time to unlock all of my locks. I liked the feeling of security they offered.

As I opened the door I clicked on the safety on my Browning and stepped back away from the door. "I'm Midnight. You can just call me Midnight. You can, uh… come in. As long as you take your shoes off and hang your jacket on the coat rack just inside the door."

Will, still refusing to look me in the eyes, stepped around me and slid off his shoes. I closed the door and began locking it again as he slid out of his jacket and placed it on the coat rack. "Do you always answer your door with a loaded gun?"

I tapped my Browning against my leg and couldn't help but grin. "It makes for interesting conversation if I let guests in."

For the first time as he turned to face me, Will looked me in the eyes and smiled. He had a school boy charm about him, one that would normally make your knees weak… but I wasn't really affected. "And do you normally let them in?"

I shrugged. "Nope."

"Me neither. I like my house as private as possible."

It seemed like we both had the same tendencies and I sort of felt appreciation towards him. I walked past him back into the livingroom and plopped down on the couch.

Will followed behind me and took the seat across from me, relaxing with a small sigh. I tucked my Browning back beneath the cushion. "So, Will, tell me about this case that has resurfaced."

Will slid the strap of his messenger back off of his shoulder and pulled it onto his lap. He opened the flap and pulled out an old beat-up looking folder that was filled to the brim. He stood up and laid it on the table in front of me before beginning. "Have you ever heard of the serial killer Hannibal Lecter?"

I leaned forward and picked up the folder, gently opening it and picking up the first police report on top. "I've heard the name but I haven't studied his case. I thought he was captured?"

Will shook his head. "I was the agent who first put him in prison… after he'd tried to kill me when I found out who he was. Before he escaped, another agent, Clarice, took on his case after I became too traumatized by the case. Clarice almost caught him when he escaped but he was too sly and he slipped away. We haven't seen him for quite a few years… until a few recent cannibal cases popped up around the London area."

"And you think he's still alive and eating people?"

"He might be… or it might be a copy-cat. Either way we have to… we have to find him and bring him back in."

I sat back and flipped through page after page of reports and evidence. I didn't bother looking at the pictures because I knew that if this cannibal was Lecter he wouldn't look anything like he did back then. "How did he try to kill you?"

I looked up in time to catch Will's frown. He sucked in his bottom lip and I watched as his chest started raising and falling faster. His words, when he did speak, were soft.

Definitely a sign that Lecter had scarred him deeper than most knew.

"We were friends, me and Dr. Lecter. We worked on a few cases together and he was a brilliant forensic psychiatrist. He understood me unlike the other people around me and he helped my skills grow. When… when I found out that he was the cannibal that I was looking for at the time, I called him in but he attacked me… he… nearly killed me. I haven't been the same since then."

"So we're both survivors."

Will snapped his head up, dragging himself from his thoughts. "Pardon?"

I gave a small, humourless laugh. "Nothing." I scooted to the edge of the couch and laid the folder back down on the table. "Is Crawford going to be coming to London for this?"

"No. He thought that the both of us would be good on this, along with the help of the agents and police here."

I nodded. "Ok. Good, because he's a dick and sometimes he gets on my nerves… even though he's good at what he does."

My statement made Will laugh and it shocked the both of us. I had sort of taken him for someone who never laughed, but I guess I was wrong. "Haha! I'll agree with that. As long as you won't tell Crawford I did."

I let out a small giggle and nodded that I wouldn't.

When Will had settled back down he was suddenly all serious again. He scratched at his scruff and sighed. "I haven't laughed like that since Lecter and I worked together."

"You guys were good friends, weren't you?"

Will nodded slowly. "He didn't treat me as if I was a freak. I was almost… special to him."

"I'm sorry he turned out to be the bad guy."

"Me too. I don't get to know many people like that very often. I don't like socializing. Ever."

I knew how he was feeling all too well. I decided that I wouldn't mind working with Will after all. He didn't seem like a bad person, just a little misunderstood.

With a firm nod I stood up and walked over to him. His eyes followed me as I stopped beside him and he arched a brow. I offered him my hand, something I rarely did, and waited for him to shake it. "I won't judge you, Will. I know how it feels and I know the weight we both bear on our shoulders so I'm not going to be like every other dookie-head out there."

Will cracked a small grin, a small childish light brightening his fragile aura. He slowly reached out and gripped my hand, giving it a firm shake. "Glad to meet you, Midnight."

I flashed him a bright smile back. "Nice to meet you too, Will. Let's work well together."


	3. Part 2: Classes, Counseling, & Murder

**Part 2: Classes, Counseling, & Murder**

* * *

 

[ **Two Weeks Later** ]

Two weeks into classes and I was about ready to hang myself.

It wasn't that they weren't bad; it was just that they were boring. I KNEW everything we were talking about and I just had to sit there like I didn't know shit. That's the trouble of reading ahead of everyone. But I had to if I was going to be able to work on this case that Will and I had been assigned.

Right now I was waiting outside my Understanding Victimology class because I was early. I was always early. I rarely ate lunch here at the school so I didn't have that to take up my time. Instead I just leaned against the wall opposite the classroom watching as the students trudged by and listening to music. Today was AFI's 2007 album I Heard a Voice.

I was on Summer Shudder when a young man stopped beside me and leaned his shoulder against one of the lockers. "So, I see you all the time just hanging by yourself. I figured I'd introduce myself. I'm Logan."

I reached up and pulled out one of my ear-buds. "What did you say?"

The guy gave a small laugh and repeated himself. "I see you hanging by yourself and I wanted to come introduce myself. Name's Logan."

I looked him up and down for a few seconds before looking back out at the other students. "I like girls, Logan. You should go find one who'll be interested in you."

"Hey now, come on. I'm not that bad. At least tell me your name." He scooted forward until his chest was pressed against my shoulder and leaned his head down to whisper against my hair. "And I like girls who like girls. It's kinda hot."

I clinched my jaw and moved to step away from him because he was invading my personal space and I really didn't like it. But when I went to move, his hand slid out of his pocket and grabbed my wrist tightly.

I froze as I struggled to control the urge to snap his fingers one by one. "Let go, Logan."

He pulled me towards him and I stumbled as I resisted. "I just want to know your name. You don't have to leave."

The darkness inside me started to stir as my free hand slipped into my pants pocket. I slid my fingers around my smooth stainless steel throwing blade and had it halfway out so that I could press it against his throat when he was slammed away from me and into the lockers.

I stared at the large, weathered hand that was pressing against the center of Logan's chest pinning him to the lockers. "I'm afraid to have to butt in as rudely as I did, Mr. Warfield, but when a lady informs you she has no interest then its best that you leave her alone."

My heart started doing its speedy pitter-patter and my world narrowed down to Mr. Mathiasen's hands pressing against the guy's chest. His skin was weathered and tanned but showed signs of being taken care of and his nails were clipped even, showing no signs of dirt beneath them. His hand was beautiful.

"Yo, Mr. M. I was just asking her what her name was."

Mr. Mathiasen slowly turned his dark brown eyes towards me. "Were you feeling uncomfortable with him around, Miss Whisper?" I gave a small nod and moved until I was slightly behind Mr. Mathiasen.

He turned his attention back to Logan and for a second I thought he'd made a small growling noise but that was probably just my imagination. "I politely suggest that you refrain from holding anymore conversations with my student. Do you understand?"

Logan was nodding quickly now and I could tell he was having trouble breathing because Mr. Mathiasen's hand was still pressing against his chest. "Yes, Mr. M. Definitely no more talking to her." He swallowed roughly and looked down. "Can I go, please?"

Mr. Mathiasen slowly dropped his hand from Logan's chest and we both watched as he nearly tripped over his own shoes trying to get away. When we couldn't see him anymore Mr. Mathiasen peered over his shoulder at him. "Are you alright?"

I licked my suddenly dry lips and nodded, pulling my remaining ear-bud out of my ear and tucking them into my pocket without shutting my music off. "I should be after a bit."

Mr. Mathiasen turned completely around to face me and cocked his head to the side and I couldn't help but narrow my focus onto his attractively thin, lightly arching lips as they moved. "Do you want me to write you a note excusing you from your remaining two classes? You may crash in my office if you like."

"Sure… I mean yes, uh, that would be awesome."

I watched unblinking as Mr. Mathiasen's smile crinkled the crowfeet at the corners of his eyes. "You can head that way if you like and I'll go talk to your teachers."

I slowly nodded and reached down to pick up my backpack. "Thanks."

I quickly walked away and clutched at the straps of my backpack in the hopes of calming my heart down. "Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit."

I repeated that to myself the whole way to Mr. Mathiasen's office. I didn't know why I was beginning to notice things about him. I didn't know why and I didn't want to know why. I should be scared of him… afraid for my life. Not that he was a threat to me or meaning to kill me, but that he could. He was a man after all and it was a man who'd made me as tortured and sadistic as I am now. But because I was talking to him every day after classes about the things that were bothering me something had started to change inside of me. One reason for the changes was that he'd never asked what had happened to me after being taken by the Collector and a second reason was that he didn't judge me whenever I came into his office having panic attacks.

"Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Fucking shit…"

Just as I reached Mr. Mathiasen's office my phone rang and I dug into my pocket as I opened the door. A peek at the screen told me it was Will. I sighed and clicked answer. "Hey, Will."

"You alright, Midnight?"

I frowned as I closed the door behind me and walked over to the far corner where my usual rocking chair sat surrounded by books. It was my comfy hole that Mr. Mathiasen had allowed me to make in his office. "Yah, I'm ok. Why do you ask?"

"You're voice sounded a little strained."

"It's nothing. What'cha need?"

There was a pause as Will was probably grabbing at some papers. His apartment was practically strewn with all kinds of reports on the cannibal killings here in England. "I, uh…" He dropped the phone and I heard him curse before he retrieved it. "Sorry. I was going to say that I think I found some clues as to where Lecter or this copy-cat might be originating from. If you use the particular patterns he had back before he was caught and you blow them up against a map, add or minus a few stray bodies outside of the circle, then he's probably here in London… or one of the close surrounding cities."

I paused in situating myself into my comfy hole. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

I gently plopped down into the rocking chair and groaned, cupping my hand over my eyes. "And there are hundreds of places he could be in the city or cities. I guess our work isn't going to get any easier."

"Nope."

The office door opened and I looked up to watch as Mr. Mathiasen walked in. He closed the door silently behind him and started to walk over to me. I gave him a small smile and held my hand over the phone. "I hope you don't mind me taking a call in your office."

Mr. Mathiasen stopped in front of me and knelt down, propping his elbows on his knees. His brown eyes were kind as he shook his head. "I do not mind. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

I gave him a small smile. "Yah."

He watched me intently for a few more seconds and I swear he could see my pulse racing because of how close he was and how beautiful I thought his eyes were. "Ok."

He stood up with a small groan as his body straightened and I watched as he walked to his desk. When he was sitting down I uncovered my phone but kept my eyes on Mr. Mathiasen. "Hey, Will. Sorry. My psychiatrist just walked in and I asked him if it was alright if I took your call."

There was ruffling of papers before he spoke. "Eh, it's ok. I was wondering why you went silent all of a sudden but I heard your muffled breath and voices so I wasn't too worried."

"Yah."

"So what time do you think you're going to be back home? I'll probably stop by after grabbing something to eat so we can look over what I've recently found."

I groaned. "Can't I just cook for you? I don't like getting takeout. It's not… healthy for you."

Will paused in what he was doing and I heard him swallow roughly. "No offense to you but I don't trust home cooked meals anymore. Lecter turned me off of that when he… served stuff… I ate it… without know."

"Oh… I… Ok, that's fine. I'll just make something for myself and you can grab something to eat before you head over. I don't have to go to my last two classes today but I am going to be chilling in Mr. Mathiasen's office until after our usual session. So probably…" I pulled my phone away from my ear and looked at the time on the dimmed display before moving it back against my ear. "Probably around five tonight."

More papers rustled. "Five? I'll be there around then… if I don't lose track of time again."

I gave a small laugh. "Yah, again. Bye."

"Yeppers."

I clicked my phone off and slid it into my pocket before I stood up and slowly made my way over to Mr. Mathiasen's desk. I casually walked around behind him and peered over his shoulder to see what he was doing. It looked like it was a journal but I couldn't read it. "What'cha doing?"

Mr. Mathiasen stopped writing and gently started tapping his pen against his thumb. He peered over his shoulder at me and I watched as a silver streaked lock of brown hair fell across his forehead. "Just writing. I find writing allows me to calm my mind, especially when filthy young boys assault my patients."

I rolled my eyes at him and teetered over to the edge of his desk so that I could lean against it. I studied the shelves of books in front of me. "Thanks for that by the way."

"Do you always carry a knife on you?"

I jerked my head around and blinked owl eyes at him. "I don't have a knife."

He slowly pushed out his chair and stood up, walking around until he was standing in front of me. I scooted up onto his desk so that he wasn't too close but he stepped forward anyways. His pants brushed ever so slightly against my knees as his dark brown eyes stared intently down at me, as if daring me to deny him. "Empty your pockets."

I licked my lips and dipped my eyes down to where my hands were sitting on my lap. "No."

He moved that inch closer so that I could feel his hipbones beneath his pants. He reached out and gripped my chin, not tightly but hard enough to make me look up at him. "I'd rather not have to do it myself, Miss Whisper."

I bit my bottom lip knowing that I was trapped. Either I would do it or he would. I sighed and reached into my left pocket, slowly pulling out my stainless steel blade. It glittered in the light of the room as I held it out in front of me. "It's custom made for my palm."

Mr. Mathiasen gently took it from my hand, his fingers brushing against my palm and causing me to shiver. He brought it up to eye level and observed the detail of it. "Beautiful." He twirled it around his fingers for a few seconds, surprising me at the ease with which he did so. Finally when he was satisfied he grasped it in his palm and looked back at me. "You are a naughty girl, Miss Whisper. Knives aren't allowed on campus."

I blinked hopelessly up at him. "But… I… need…"

"Do you not feel safe inside my office, Miss Whisper?" I frowned but slowly nodded. "Then you don't need a blade in here, correct?" Again I nodded. He smiled, crinkling his crow feet around his eyes again. He tapped the tip of my nose with the handle of my knife and turned away to walk back to his desk. "I'll give it back before you leave. Now go relax in your comfy hole until it's time for our session."

I sighed and slid off of his desk, walking back to my comfy hole. I curled up in the rocking chair and picked up one of the books I'd brought to read. I guess I could do without my blade for a little while.

* * *

_**You are a naughty girl, Miss Whisper. You are a naughty girl. A naughty girl.** _

_I was sitting once again in the black leather chair in front of Mr. Mathiasen but I wasn't paying attention. My thought were a bit… distracted by thoughts of Mr. Mathiasen's mouth whispering those words against my ear… which didn't happen, but I could definitely imagine it did._

" _Midnight… Midnight…"_

_I jerked out of my reverie and stared straight at Mr. Mathiasen. "Were you talking to me?"_

_Mr. Mathiasen leaned forward, placing his elbows against his knees and cupping his hands beneath his chin. "What were you thinking just now?"_

_I fought not to blush but knew it was a failed attempt when I felt the burn along my cheeks. "Nothing. I was just… spacing off." I silently cursed myself for thinking such dirty things._

_Somehow I don't think he believed me. "I don't take kindly to being lied to, Miss Whisper, nor ignored."_

_I dipped my head shamefully. "I'm sorry, Mr. Mathiasen."_

" _I'll forgive you this once, but don't make a habit of it. Or you'll be punished, and I'm not a lenient man." There was a certain dangerous look in his eyes as I peered out at him from behind my bangs. It sent shivers down my spine. I didn't know if they were good shivers or bad shivers but I knew he'd keep his word. He sighed and reached up to run his hand through his hair. "We were talking about your coping habits when you have panic attacks. Tell me about them"_

_I shrugged and pulled my knees up against my chest, slowly rocking back and forth. "Usually I have to leave whatever I'm doing and go to a place by myself. I have to be away from people. Secluded. Alone. Safe. Other times I'll…" I stole a look at where my knife was sitting on the glass table beside Mr. Mathiasen. "I'll run my finger along the blade and let the pain calm my nerves."_

_Mr. Mathiasen arched one of his brows. "And that doesn't affect the way you play the piano?"_

_I shook my head. "No, not usually. I put superglue over the cuts so they heal quicker."_

" _I don't want you to do that anymore."_

" _Don't do what?"_

" _Cut your fingers."_

_I narrowed my eyes at him and uncurled myself from the chair, mirroring him. "But I like it."_

" _Then find something else you like."_

" _Like what?"_

_I thought he was going to reply right away with a smart remark but instead he leaned back in his chair and just stared at me. I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze but didn't move from the position he'd previously been in. I stared right back at him._

" _Do you like cooking?"_

_Not what I was expecting. "I guess I do. I have to cook or I'd starve probably."_

" _Then cook."_

_I rolled my eyes. "I do."_

" _For me."_

_His answer was completely confusing. "First, how does this apply to me not cutting my fingers and second, why would I cook for you? I mean, I'm sure you're quite capable of cooking yourself."_

_A small smile played across his lips. "I am."_

" _Then why tell me to cook for you."_

" _Because I want you to cook for me."_

_I narrowed my eyes at him again. "Why."_

_He slowly leaned forward, his muscles flexing beneath his jacket and I sucked in a shaky breath. Damn him. "To get your mind off of your fear."_

" _How… would that take my mind off of my fear?"_

_He slowly stood up, picking my knife up as he did so, and walked over towards me. I froze as he walked around me and leaned over the back of the chair, laying the blade against the side of my throat while his other hand gripped my shoulder. He leaned further a little more and I felt his breath against my hair. "Because you'll be with me."_

* * *

"Midnight."

As a warm hand gently shook my shoulder I snapped my eyes open and sat upwards quickly, waking up from my extremely confusing dream. In the process of sitting up I smacked my forehead against Mr. Mathiasen's face.

I gasped as he stumbled backwards and put a hand to his nose and I put my hand to my forehead. I could feel warmth begin to pool beneath my hand at the same time blood seeped out from behind Mr. Mathiasen's hand.

I stood up quickly and reached out to grab his arm. "Mr. Mathiasen! Oh my gods! I'm sorry, I didn't know what was going on, I'm sorry!"

Mr. Mathiasen waved me away and headed over to the glass table holding the tissues. I followed him and reached the box before him, grabbing up a ton of them. I tried to push his hand away from his face but he tried to stop me. "I'm alright, Miss Whisper. It's just a bloody nose."

I rolled my eyes and finally was able to pry his hand away from his nose. Blood continued to poor down his mouth and onto his shirt. "Dammit!" I pressed the tissues against his nose and then grabbed him by his jacket, using it as leverage to push him into his leather chair. "Sit down and shut up, Mr. Mathiasen. I'm so sorry. I was sleeping and I guess you scared me."

His blood started soaking through the tissues and I cursed again. I allowed Mr. Mathiasen to grab a hold of the tissues while I took a hold of the bottom of my shirt and ripped it. Tissue just wasn't going to do it. "Midnight, you don't have…"

I pressed my finger against his lip and shushed him before I wadded up some more tissues and wrapped them up in my strip of shirt. When I was satisfied that it would at least hold more blood than the tissue alone I gently peeled away the soaked tissues and replaced them with mine. I stuffed the bloody tissue into my pocket instead of dropping it onto the floor because I knew Mr. Mathiasen was very obsessive about cleanliness. "I'm so sorry. Very sorry. I didn't mean to hit you."

I started to slowly brush back his hair as he stared up at me and I couldn't help but admire his beautiful eyes. They were completely dilated as he stared up at me so they looked black and the intensity of his gaze made me shiver delightfully.

His right hand came up and cupped my chin, his thumb wiping at the trail of blood flowing down my face. "You're bleeding."

I shrugged. "Not as bad as you are."

"You're a very sweet girl, Midnight. You don't mind if I call you Midnight, do you?"

"No."

He smiled and trailed his thumb across my bottom lip before moving it upwards to slide into my hair, fisting it. "Good." He dragged my face closer until I had to move the almost soaked cloth away from him so that I wouldn't squish it with my face. "If you kiss me I'll forgive you."

I blinked down at him from inches away and nervously licked my lips, tasting my blood which he'd wiped across them with his thumb. I couldn't believe he was telling me this while we were both bleeding. "Why do you want me to kiss you?"

His grip tightened in my hair and caused me to suck in a deep breath. "Because you're beautiful."

"I'm bloody and so are you."

He smiled and pressed his warm lips against mine with the barest of caresses. "That doesn't bother me." His breath was scalding hot against my lips as he spoke.

I opened my mouth a little and hovered over his. "But I'm also your student and your patient."

"You're also a consenting adult."

He was right… and by gods I was somehow attracted to him. I should be afraid of him but I wasn't. I was very much attracted and it seemed he'd picked up on that. "One kiss."

"One kiss."

I pulled the bloody cloth away from his nose, sat it on the table beside us, and placed my hands on either side of his head, gripping the back of his chair, before allowing myself to press my lips against his. I didn't care that our blood smeared across our faces.

His lips were warm and fuller than I had thought just by looking at them. When the tip of his tongue brushed against my bottom lip I slowly opened my mouth and allowed it to slip inside. I could taste his blood, coppery and warm, as he drew me further into the kiss. His other hand reached around my waist and pulled me downwards until I had to place one of my knees on the chair between his legs so that I wouldn't fall on top of him.

As he was pulling away he sucked my bottom lip in between his teeth and bit down. I scratched the leather of the chair and growled as he let it go.

My heart was racing as I slowly opened my eyes and stared down at him. The lower half of his face was completely covered in blood and it had pooled down into the hollow of his neck.

I had an odd urge to just lean down and lick it clean; instead I shakily pulled away as far as his hands would let me and sucked in a much needed breath. "Bastard."

He smiled and shrugged, slowly releasing his hold on my hair and waist. "Only to you, Midnight. That name coming out of anyone else's mouth and they wouldn't like me very much."

He slowly pushed himself out of the chair and I moved back so that he could, our bodies brushing against each other until he was towering over me. "Should I be scared?"

He brought his fingers up and trailed along the path of blood that had made its way down my neck. "Not of me."

I shivered at his touch, a good shiver this time, and reached out to push away from him. "We should really clean and patch ourselves up, Mr. Mathiasen."

His fingers slid around my neck and squeezed slightly, making my pulse skyrocket. "Please, call me Hann whenever we're in my office… or away from school."

"Hann. That's not a common name."

He shrugged. "It's old Norse. A proud name… and a family name. Many of the males in my family carry Hann as their first name."

"I guess if you put it that way it sounds legit."

He laughed and leaned down, pressing a warm bloody kiss against my nose. "There's a bathroom behind you if you'd like to clean up. I have some moist towelettes in my desk that should clean my mess up."

I stumbled a little as he let me go but I recovered quickly enough.

I went to the bathroom and closed the door. When I turned the light on and looked into the mirror I was completely shocked at what I saw. My entire face was covered in blood, most of it wasn't mine. And on the tip of my nose was Hann's lip print.

I giggled a little but then sobered up. "Damn girl, what have you gotten yourself into?" I should definitely not like my psychiatrist/teacher. And usually the only think I felt towards guys was revulsion and fear. "But…" I touched my bottom lip which was swollen. "Maybe I'm not a monster after all… maybe I just need someone who's dominate enough and strong enough to protect me." I sighed and turned on the sink, reaching for one of the washrags that were folded neatly beside the faucet. Thankfully it was red so that when I wet it and wiped at the blood on my face it didn't show.

It didn't take me long to clean up my face, neck, and hands but there wasn't anything I could do about the bloodstains on my shirt until I got home… heck, I'd probably have to toss it since it was now ripped at the bottom.

There was a soft knock at the door. "Are you alright, Midnight?"

I took one last look in the mirror to make sure I had gotten all the blood and took one last swipe at the cut on my forehead for good measure before I dropped the rag into the small basket behind the door. I quickly opened the door and blinked up at Hann. "Yah, I'm ok. And woah…" He'd changed shirts and cleaned himself up rather quickly. "You, uh, changed."

His eyes twinkled merrily. "I always keep a spare shirt, tie, and jacket in my desk."

"That's smart I guess."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small round Band-Aid which he proceeded to unwrap. "I found one of these and thought it would work on your cut." I felt my heart flutter at his kindness as he gently reached up and pressed it over my cut. Thankfully it was clear so I wouldn't look like a dork on my way out of the building.

I reached up and touched it to make sure it was on. "Thanks." I shifted nervously on the balls of my feet and wasn't sure what to say.

"Do you regret kissing me?"

I quickly looked up at him and shook my head. "No! I… I just… I've never been kissed like that before."

His deep chuckle warmed me through as he reached out and brushed down a stray hair. "I won't rush, Midnight. I'm a patient man and I know what I want. I don't want to scare you away."

I scoffed. "I'm not easily scared."

"Liar."

True. "Ok, maybe I am… but… if you… I'll promise to try and not be afraid."

He smiled and slid his knuckles along my jaw. "Good girl. Now, I think it's time for you to go home. You said you'd meet your friend at five, didn't you?"

"Oh shit!" I slapped my hand over my mouth and blushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"It's alright. Next time though you owe me a kiss. That will be your payment every time you use those foul words in my office."

I smiled up at him. "I'm truly grateful to know you, Hann. I've been so afraid for so long I didn't remember what it was like to just be me until recently… with you…"

"Hush before I never let you leave." He pulled me out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him. "Go on now, Miss Whisper. We've had our session for the day."

I rolled my eyes and walked over to my comfy hole and stuffed my things back into my backpack before slinging it onto my shoulders. When I walked back towards the office door, Hann was waiting. He held the door open for me and I waved goodbye as I left. "See you tomorrow, Mr. Mathiasen."

His smile was the last thing I saw before he closed his office door and I focused on getting back to my car. I needed to be able to focus so I wouldn't crash my car.

I couldn't really believe it. I'd kissed Mr. Mathiasen… err, Hann.

I gave a small girly squeak as I started my car and pulled out of the parking lot. I was definitely going to enjoy my counseling sessions from now on.

* * *

When I pulled up outside of my house, Will's car was parked against the curb and he was leaning against it with a bag of takeout hanging from his arm and his messenger bag over the other.

I opened the garage and pulled in and he walked up the drive. I waited until he was inside before closing the garage door and getting out of my car. "Will, you're early."

He didn't smile, just nodded. "The local police found another body about an hour ago."

I frowned. "Why didn't you call me?"

"You were in counseling. I figured it could wait an hour."

"But I could…"

His hand reached up and brushed the Band-Aid on my forehead, cutting of my complaint. "What happened? You smell like blood." His hand moved from my forehead to one of the bloodstains on the collar of my shirt. "And your shirt is stained."

I pushed his hand away from my collar and refused to look up at him. "Someone shoved me into a locker and I cut my forehead. Mr. Mathiasen helped patch me up before I left."

Will gave a small grunt and let his hand drop. "That's why I hated college. Human contact, socializing. Nothing I want really."

"Yah." I felt bad lying to Will but I couldn't tell him what I'd done with Mr. Mathiasen.

When I finally peeked up at Will he was still watching me. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yah…"

He narrowed his eyes for a few seconds before shrugging. "You hungry?"

I rolled my eyes and walked up to the house door, unlocking and shoving it open for Will to step through. "Uh, no. Not if I'm going to be looking at gory pictures of a dead body."

"Him. It was a man." He took his shoes off and lined them up against the wall before heading into the kitchen, dumping his things on the kitchen table. He'd been in and out of my house enough times to know where everything was so I just let him do what he did while I went to the back of the house to my bedroom.

I left the door open so that I could talk to him. "Tell me about the man." I opened my walk-in closet and quickly peeled off my bloody clothes.

Before dropping the shirt into the hamper I brought it to my face and breathed in Hann's scent. He smelled… earthy with a touch of lightly scented soap. Clean. Manly… Heady. He didn't wear cologne.

"He was found just outside London, in a woody area. He was missing his lungs and the muscle along his ribs."

I sighed and pushed thoughts of Hann away as I grabbed a clean dress and walked out of my closet. I froze like a deer in the path of headlights when I saw Will standing just inside my bedroom door.

His eyes were following the path of my completely visible scars. His voice was low, admiring almost but hurting at the same time. "You were tortured."

I quickly wrapped my dress around my body and tried to cover everything. "No."

He walked forward and gripped a handful of my dress, gently prying it from my fingers. He dropped it on the floor and reached out, trailing his fingers along the scars that disappeared beneath my bra. "He made you suffer for a long time, taking his time; enjoying it. He wanted to see if you were strong enough."

I looked away so that he couldn't see the pain in my eyes. "No."

His hands moved from scar to scar, tracing the raised and dipping flesh. No man, aside from the Collector himself, had touched me like this… or seen my scars. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't want anyone to know that he made me into a monster."

Will shook his head and turned me around, lifting my hair away from my back so that he could see the intricate scars there. "You're not a monster."

I swallowed roughly and closed my eyes tight trying to block the images of the Collector cutting me. "You don't know how long I suffered, what he put inside my head… what he made me watch."

I shivered when Will's hands slowly wrapped around my waist and he pulled me against his body, burying his face against my shoulder. "Is this why they force you to go to a psychiatrist?" I slowly nodded. I felt uncomfortable with Will being this close to me but then again I was grateful that he didn't think my scars disgusting. "Will you tell me about it?"

I pulled away from him and leaned down to pick up my dress. "No." I didn't look at him as I headed towards the bathroom. "I don't ever want to re-live that nightmare again, Will. Not for you, not for anyone."

"Midnight…" He took a step as if to follow me but I closed the bathroom door behind me.

As I leaned against it I heard him sigh and walk away. I cupped my face in my hands and allowed myself to cry for the first time in years. "Fuck." I slid down the door until I could curl my arms around my knees and bury my face, leaving my dress tucked beside me. "Fuck."

I don't know how long I sat there on the bathroom floor crying but it wasn't until Will gently knocked on the door that I finally moved. "Midnight. I… I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for touching your scars… and for asking about what happened. It's not my place. I… I just suck at being social with people. I don't… I saw the scars and I knew what had happened to you. I could almost see it. I'm sorry." I heard him drop his head against the door. "Please don't lock yourself in the bathroom, Midnight. It's already been almost two hours. Please."

I wiped at my tears slowly but didn't answer him.

"Are you alright? I could call that guy, Mathiasen, if you need someone to talk to. I… I don't know what to do."

"Go away, Will. Go home. I'll be alright." I slowly slid down the door until I was lying flat on my back. I turned to the side and curled my legs against my chest, closing my eyes.

I heard Will bang his head against the door once more before walking away. I didn't know if he was going to leave like I'd said but I didn't care. I just didn't want to deal with anyone right now.

* * *

" _Beautiful." The Collector's breath burned hot against my ear as he slowly sliced his blade down my back again, blood slicking his fingers._

_I had screamed for so long that my voice was barely a whisper. "Fuck you, you sick bastard."_

_He moved his free hand up to my hair and grabbed it tightly, fisting a handful and jerking my head back until I could barely breathe. His black eyes peered deep into mine, so black they seemed to swallow me whole. I was afraid of his eyes. "You're so much stronger than the rest of my collection, Midnight. Don't make me cut your tongue out."_

_He slammed my head back down onto the examining table and moved his hand back against the other side of the cut he'd just sliced into my back. The blade bit deeper this time and I let out a small sob, jerking my arms against the chains holding me against the table. "Pain is a beautiful thing. It's a passage, a rite that we must go through in order to grow stronger. I want you to be as strong as me, Whisper. I want you with me forever."_

_I could feel the blood seeping from my body, the warmth of it wrapping me in a seemingly safe cocoon… an illusion, I knew, but a slightly comforting one._

_The Collector's torture room slowly spiraled away into darkness as I finally lost consciousness._

* * *

Warm hands slowly lifted me from the floor as the memory of the Collector's torture drifted away. I tensed at the press of cloth and the sound of a steady heartbeat before I heard Hann's smooth voice. "Shhh, Midnight. It's just me."

I let out a sob and buried my face against his shirt. "He was cutting me again. He was touching me with his filthy hands. His eyes…"

There was another hand that touched my arm and I flinched away. "Midnight."

Hann slowly pulled me away from the hand. "Will."

Will let out a small sigh. "I hurt her, didn't I?"

Hann's voiced rumbled through his chest as he slowly walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. "Her mind isn't stable right now but I don't think you purposefully hurt her. She's more fragile than she lets on… her trauma worse than even I thought."

"She never told you what happened?"

Hann shook his head and I felt his fingers tighten for just a second. "No."

There was some rustling and I heard the sheet on my bed being pulled back. Hann gently placed me down on the sheets and tucked my feet beneath the cover before trying to sit up. I gripped his shirt tighter and sobbed again. "Don't leave me, please."

Hann stared down at me, blinking slowly, and he gave a small reassuring smile. "I planned on staying the night. It would be bad to leave you alone right now, Miss Whisper."

I felt tears roll down my cheeks as I slowly nodded, glad he wasn't leaving. I felt like he was the only one who could protect me. There was something dark about him, something strong that was hidden behind his cool demeanor. "Thank you."

Hann nodded. "I have to leave for a few seconds to grab my bag from my car." He patted my hand that was clutching his shirt. "But you'll have to let my shirt go."

I swallowed roughly and slowly unclenched my fingers. I could see that I'd wrinkled his shirt. I tried to smooth them out but Hann gently took ahold of my hand and tucked it in against my chest. "I'm sorry for wrinkling your shirt."

Hann chuckled. "It's alright." He slowly stood up, his hand lingering for a few seconds longer over mine. "I'll be right back."

I gave a small nod. "Ok."

Hann turned away and strode out of the room. Will stayed in the doorway for a few seconds, his eyes showing his apology to me, showing his pain at hurting me.

He opened his mouth as if to say something but he shut it with a snap and turned to follow after Hann. I could hear Will speak up in the livingroom. "Thanks for coming, Mr. Mathiasen. I didn't know what to do. I'm… I'm not very good with other people."

"No worries, Mr. Graham. Sometimes it takes just a sound to trigger traumatic memories. You did the right thing in calling me. She should be alright but it might take some time. I'm going to call the school tomorrow and inform them that she's not… well enough for classes at the moment. I'll take care of her, Mr. Graham."

I heard Will sigh. "I wish I could as well."

There was a small silence before Hannibal spoke again. "May I ask what your relation is to Miss Whisper?"

Will coughed and shuffled his feet. "We're… we work together. I don't know if she's told you but she helps the FBI with cases until she graduates. I'm a special agent and we're working on a case together."

"She had mentioned she wanted to work for the FBI but she hadn't informed me that she was working on a case."

"Oh."

"May I ask what it is you're working on?"

"I…" Will paused. "I don't think I'm comfortable with talking to a psychiatrist about this sort of case… the last time I did I… made some bad choices and it nearly got me killed."

"I see. I can understand the apprehension then. But, if you need someone to talk to about your nightmares then I might be able to help that way."

Will seemed uncomfortable when he spoke again. "I never said I had nightmares."

"I know."

I heard Hann walk away after that and the door open and close as he left to grab his bag. Will shuffled around in the livingroom and I just stared up at the ceiling, fighting the cold chills that were wracking my body.

A few minutes later the door opened and closed as Hann came back inside. He didn't pause to say anything to Will but walked straight back to my room.

When he walked in I slowly sat up and watched as he sat his bag down just inside the door and started to pull his jacket off. "Thank you… for… being here. I'm… not normally like this."

I watched the muscles beneath Hann's shirt flex as he turned, closing the bedroom door before he hung his jacket on the door knob. "It's no problem. Sometimes things happen and we can't control them. I don't blame you, nor should you blame Will."

I nodded and started to pick at my sheets, a nervous habit I'd picked up after my ordeal with the Collector. "I don't… blame Will that is. He didn't know. I… freaked when he touched my scars."

Hann turned and stared at me intently. He slowly walked towards me and sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching up to cup my cheek. "It's alright."

I closed my eyes and leaned into his palm. "Is it always going to be like this?"

"No… maybe years down the road you'll stop having panic attacks. But, it will take years. Not days, not months. Years. And then one day you'll be doing whatever you'll be doing and it won't happen anymore. You'll forget this fear. You'll overcome it."

I slowly opened my eyes, a tear hanging to the edge of my lashes. "Are you sure?"

Hann slowly reached up and wiped the tear away. "I was a boy long, long ago… there was some fighting among nations… not wars or anything - I'm not old enough for any major wars to have been going on when I was a little boy. But… I had a little sister, Mischa, who was very precious to me. I lost my parents when they both got very sick…" Hann lowered his hand and slowly traced along my collarbone, his eyes never meeting mine. "My sister and I were… put into a home of some very bad people… I had to watch them kill my Mischa."

I inched my hand towards Hann's free one and looped my fingers around it, holding it lightly. "Hann."

Hann looked up at me finally and I could see all the pain and anger he'd hidden for years. "For years after, I had nightmares of her. I could hear her screams as she begged me to help her. I couldn't do anything because I was chained up. Years passed before I encountered those men again and…"

I whispered. "You hurt them, didn't you? You killed them."

Hann nodded, the light grey in his hair reflecting in the lamp light. I let go of his hand and reached up to push it back and tuck it behind his ear. "I killed all of them."

I moved forward onto my knees, pushing the blanket away from me. I didn't know what I was feeling for Hann but I knew that the hurt I was seeing in his eyes and the pain I heard in his voice was something I couldn't deal with. He'd bewitched me.

I cupped my hands against his jaws and leaned my forehead against his, whispering lightly. "I killed him too. I cut him up so that no one could ever find him and so he couldn't ever hurt anyone again. I became the monster he'd wanted. I became him."

Hann slid his arm around my waist and pulled my body forward until I was pressing tightly against him. He buried his head against my shoulder and I could feel the tremors in his body as he fought not to squeeze me tighter. "You're not a monster, Midnight. Not to me."

I wrapped my arms around him and dug my nails into his back, his shirt the only thing stopping me from bleeding him. "I don't know what it is about you, Hann, but you make me like you. I shouldn't and I don't know why, but I do." I kissed his neck lightly and heard him let out a barely audible sigh. "You're beautiful to me."

* * *

**[Hannibal]**

The clock beside Midnight's bed showed that it was 3 a.m. I'd been watching Midnight sleep for almost eight hours, something I'd never done before. There was something that drew me to this girl. I couldn't explain it but I found myself… attracted to her, beyond my usual attraction to a person. I didn't want to eat her. I wanted to possess her.

With a soft groan I slipped my hand out of Midnight's smaller one and stood, stretching backwards as my back popped. It felt good.

I leaned down for a few seconds and pressed a soft kiss against Midnight's forehead before I left the room.

All of the lights were turned off, probably by Will, but I could see anyways. When I stepped into the livingroom I saw Will's form spread out asleep on the coach.

I quietly walked over to him and sat on the edge of the couch. I reached forward and took his glasses off his face and closed them, turning to set them on the coffee table in front of me.

He was older than when I had last seen him, aged by his fears and the job he still worked.

The last time I'd seen him he was laying on my office floor, stomach slashed and blood slowly pooling out around him. It was something I'd deeply regretted doing. Will had been one of the only people I'd come to call friend. Someone with a mind like my own… not a killer, no, but with the same twisted thoughts.

He hadn't caught me because he could see that I was the cannibal he'd been looking for, he'd caught me because he'd placed himself as my victim. And that's what he'd become the night he'd confronted me.

I reached out and brushed back one of his soft brown curls. "I've missed you, Will. You have no idea." In my own way I had loved Will, had wanted to possess him the same as I want to possess Midnight.

They are both like me; twisted and tortured; survivors of horror. I was the bigger monster here though, more depraved than either of them… but they were like me.

Leaning forward I softly pressed a kiss against Will's lips, savoring the taste of them. I had never gotten the chance to kiss him. I had only ever hurt him, and I'd regretted that every day since then.

I pulled away and stood up with a smile. "You'll be mine, precious Will, and so will Midnight. I won't let you go this time. This is my last chance."

And those words were true. I was a man who wasn't growing any younger. I was already in my prime, a man of 47 years.

I sighed and moved away from the couch, first heading into the kitchen for a glass of water and then back into Midnight's room where I stretched out on the bed beside her, pulling her against my body and wrapping my arms around her waist.

She let out a small, contented sigh and pushed her hips back against me, snuggling close.

I swallowed hard and gripped one of her hips tightly so that she couldn't move anymore. I didn't want to lose control with her right now. I was a man who prided himself with control.

It was going to take time to warm Midnight up to me but I knew it would be worth it.

What I wasn't sure of though was if I had enough time. I knew that the only reason Will was here was because he knew my work. He knew my victims. It would only be a matter of time before either him or Midnight realized I was the cannibal they were looking for.

I didn't kill often but if they put the connection together too fast it would ruin what time I did have with both of them.

I guess I just had to cut back on the 'free-range' rude I ate.

Kissing Midnight's shoulder I closed my eyes and forced myself not to think anymore. It was time for sleep because tomorrow I would start seducing Midnight and Will.


	4. Part 3: I Know Who You Are

**Part 3: I Know Who You Are**

* * *

 

[ **Midnight – Three Days Later** ]

Three days have passed since my small breakdown but it felt like forever ago because I was in good company. Will and Hann had spent as much time with me as possible, keeping my thoughts off of bad things… aside from this case me and Will were working on at least.

But we weren't getting anywhere. There was no more evidence to collect, no more trails to follow. Nothing. We were stuck and Crawford wasn't happy with us.

"Goddammit, Will. I sent you there because you knew this guy. You're the best fucking profiler I have… No offense, Whisper."

I was sitting on the coffee table in front of Will, propping my feet up on his crossed legs. "No offense taken, Crawford."

"Good." Crawford let out a small cough and shifted some papers. "Anyways, I feel like you're sitting on your asses wasting precious time we don't have. This fuck is probably planning on taking another victim soon." Crawford paused to catch his breath. "Have you got anymore leads? Anything? Either of you?"

I arched my brows at Will but he only shrugged.

Hann walked in carrying two large cups of coffee he'd made for us. He'd pretty much taken over my kitchen and had bought me a new, fancy coffee machine.

As he took a seat beside Will he handed one cup to Will and the other to me, his fingers brushing lightly against my fingers as he let go. I took a sip of the warm, sweet liquid and smiled at him over the rim of the cup. Will gave a small grunt of approval.

While I was watching the two beautiful men sitting in front of me, Crawford coughed really loudly and started grumbling again. "Are you two ignoring me? I asked you a damn question."

I sat my cup down beside me, and shifted my feet off of Will's lap so that they were cushioned between both men. Hann's hand gently rested against my ankle, his thumb rubbing back and forth. Will's free hand moved to my other leg, except closer to my knee. "I'm sorry, Crawford. I was just taking a sip of coffee."

"A sip of coffee? Are you jerking my chain? We have a cannibal on the loose that is killing and  _eating_  people and you're ignoring my questions for a sip of coffee? What the fuck is wrong with this picture guys? Surely it's not that you're both slacking because if you are I'm going to pull you guys back to the States so fast you're not going to be able to say strawberry fucking strudel."

I covered my mouth, fighting not to laugh while Will hid his own laugher behind another sip of coffee.

Hann was the only one with a straight face. He wasn't a part of this case but he knew a lot from spending time at my house which had become the base of operations for this case. "Agent Crawford."

There was a small silence on Crawford's end of the phone before he spoke up. "Who's speaking?"

"My name is Dr. Hann Mathiasen. I'm Miss Whisper's psychiatrist. The one you require her to see."

Another silence, this time a little bit longer. "And why are you with Will and Whisper while I'm talking to them about an open serial killer case?"

I was about ready to jump to Hann's defense but he beat me to it. "I've worked with the FBI before on serial cases. I don't know everything about this case because I wasn't invited to be a part of it, but I couldn't help but notice a few details that could help our young Will and Miss Whisper."

I was shocked because he didn't know much about the case. Will turned his head slightly towards Hann but other than that, he didn't say a word.

Crawford broke the silence. "And what are these details, Dr. Mathiasen?"

"This man…"

"Cannibal."

Hann gave the smallest nod. "Pardon. This cannibal is only killing around London. He's selecting his victims for their easy access as well as their… rude nature. He probably knew them just barely enough to make them comfortable around him and then he pounced. He probably lives somewhere in London… or just outside London."

Hann's eyes never left mine as he spoke and I felt like he was speaking to me, not Crawford. I cocked my head to the side and just stared back.

Crawford's pen flying over paper was the only sound for about two minutes until he finally put it down and cracked his knuckles. "Dr. Mathiasen."

Crawford's calm voice shocked both Will and I and we both looked down at the phone. Hann shifted his tie and his finger's lightly danced across my calf. "Yes, Agent Crawford?"

"Would you like to work on this case with Will and Whisper?"

Before Hann could answer, Will grabbed the phone and turned it off speaker, getting off the couch and walking into the kitchen. "Crawford, I'm not comfortable having another psychiatrist on this case… not after what happened last time."

" _No offense, Will, I know what you went through… but sometimes it takes us stepping out of our boxes and becoming uncomfortable in order to catch a killer like this_."

Will's voice was shaky, something both Hann and I picked up all the way in the livingroom. "I'm not good with being outside my box… you don't want to see me outside my box, Crawford. I… I'm afraid of what I might become, of who I would become. You won't like me when I'm outside my box."

I stood up and went to go to Will but Hann looped his fingers around my wrist and stopped me. I turned slightly and stared down at him. He slowly stood up, his body brushing along mine until he was towering over me. "Wait."

"Hann… I… I don't want him hurt."

Hann reached up and caressed my cheek with his knuckles, letting go of my wrist. "I know."

He walked around me and headed into the kitchen. I heard him say something to Will and seconds later Will walked down the hallway and into my bedroom, closing the door. Hann was talking to Crawford again. "I'm going to have to decline helping on the case, Agent Crawford. Will's mind is too fragile. You have to understand that I work towards mending a person, not breaking them."

" _Are you sure, Dr. Mathiasen?_ "

"I'm sure, Agent Crawford. Have a little faith in your agents."

" _Alright. Tell Will and Whisper I'll call again in a few days to see how things are going. Tell them to keep me updated on whatever they find._ "

"I will." Hann hung up and pocketed the phone before walking out of the kitchen after Will. I just stood there for a minute, giving Hann some time to calm Will.

I rubbed my hands across my face and sighed. I wanted to protect Will and Hann. They had become precious to me, something I had never ever thought possible for me. It had only taken a short while for Will and Hann to pierce through my walls and bury themselves in my heart. Strange, since I had never cared about anyone but myself since before coming here.

I was fucked beyond reason. Fucked, fucked, fucked.

After waiting a reasonable amount of time I slowly made my way back to my room and knocked on my bedroom door. Hann spoke softly, letting me know I could come in.

As I walked through the door I saw Hann sitting on my bed with Will sitting in front of him, Hann's legs on either side of Will. Hann's arms were wrapped tightly around Will's chest and his face was buried against his shoulder. Will was relaxed against Hann.

I walked over to them and knelt in front of Will, slowly sliding my hands up his thighs, dragging my nails along the fabric. "Are you alright, Will?"

Hann stared down at me over his shoulder, his eyes black like they were in his office a few days ago… when I kissed him. Will opened one of his eyes and gave a weak smile. "I'm alright, Midnight. Just a little shaken."

"Is there anything I can do? Make some tea or something?"

Will swallowed roughly and I watched his Adam's apple bob. He reached down and slid his hand down along my hair, his eyes following the movement. "Would you be angry if I asked for a kiss?"

I blushed and looked down at my hands on his legs. I wanted to kiss him, but I wasn't sure how Hann would take it. I had kissed Hann only a few days ago. "I…"

Will gave a small laugh. "It's alright, Midnight. I was only joking."

I slowly lifted my head and looked at Hann, putting the question into the look I was giving him. I didn't want to hurt Hann and I didn't want to hurt Will.

Hann nodded his head and shocked me by pressing his own lips against Will's shoulder. Will tensed but I quickly stood up on my knees and grabbed his face, pressing my lips against his. They were soft, warm, and tasted like tears.

Will melted against Hann, allowing his body to relax as his hands wrapped around me, holding me tight. He wasn't gentle in kissing me and I didn't mind. His lips fed at mine, splitting the bottom one against my teeth. The taste of copper was the only thing that made Will pull away, his gaze following the trail of blood as it slid over my lip and down along my chin.

His pupils were completely dilated and focused on the red liquid. "You taste… nice."

I smiled and reached up to grab a handful of his hair, pulling his face back down toward mine. "So do you." Just as I pressed my lips back against Will's, Hann bit into his shoulder with a small growl. I pushed my way off of the floor, guiding Will's head by his curls until his throat was stretched back. While I devoured Will's lips, Hann left bite marks along his neck and shoulder.

By the time the both of us pulled away, Will was visibly shaking and I could feel his heart beating against my chest. "God."

Hann chuckled against Will's skin. "Not God, Will. Just us."

Will swallowed roughly again and just nodded his head up and down. I had never teamed up against someone like this, never kissed someone like that. It was new and I liked it a lot. I liked Will and Hann together a lot.

I tightened my grip in Will's silky curls and stared down into his dark, dark blue eyes. "Do you like me, Will?"

His voice was breathy and shaky. "Yes."

I watched Hann out of the corner of my eyes, gauging his reaction. All I saw was approval. "Do you like Hann?"

Will took a few seconds longer to answer that question but finally he nodded. "Yes."

I smiled and let go of his curls, allowing him to relax his neck. I slowly traced a finger along his scruffy jaw. "Will you let the both of us comfort you the only way we know how to comfort?"

His voice faltered for a second. "I…"

I reached my other hand up and cupped Hann's cheek, holding both of the men that I cared for. "I don't want to see you afraid, Will."

"I want you both… with me… now… here… I…" He ducked his head and stopped talking.

I moved slightly back from Will and reached down, starting to slowly unbutton his shirt. Hann moved his hands down to rest beside him as he watched me with his black burning eyes. I enjoyed that look; it was a look full of possession and desire.

When I unbuttoned as far as I could I jerked the rest of Will's shirt out of his pants and popped the remaining buttons so that I could spread the fabric away from his smooth, muscled chest. His stomach rippled as I reached down and trailed a finger along the soft, slightly dark hair the trailed beneath his pants. "You are so beautiful." Just beneath his trail of hair was a smooth crescent scar that scooped from one hip to the other. I played my fingers along it, knowing that this was the scar that caused Will to be afraid.

Hann moved finally, scooting back so that he could pull Will's shirt down his arms and off, tossing it somewhere across the room. I knelt down again and quickly pulled Will's shoes and socks off, tossing them aside. Hann beat me to his belt so I just sat back and watched as he tugged it through each loop, jerking Will's body each time.

Will had his eyes closed and his head back, each breath lifting his chest up and down. I tentatively laid my fingers against his skin again, feeling it burn my fingertips. Will lifted his head and watched as I leaned forward while Hann started unbuttoning his pants and unzipping them. I pressed a soft kiss just above his scar. He sucked in a sharp breath but didn't stop either of us.

Hann shifted again, to the side this time, as he pulled Will backwards. "Lay and don't move. If you move I will stop Midnight and make you get dressed. Do you understand me?" Will nodded his head but his eyes were on me as I started tugging his pants down his legs, brushing the curly hair on his thighs. Hann gave a warning growl and jerked Will's head back by his curls. "Do you understand, Will? If I tell you to do something, you do it. No question and no hesitations. Do. You. Understand?"

Will voiced rasped out. "Yes."

Hann leaned down and pressed his lips against Will's, exploring him he way he'd wanted to for so many years. Will whimpered but he didn't move except to clutch at the bed sheets, fisting them tightly. When Hann pulled away I'd finished pulling Will's pants off and Will was panting for breath. "Good boy."

I slowly stood up and peered down at the treasure before me; Will nearly naked and Hann aggressively commanding him. I shivered in delight.

Hann looked up at me and he possessively ran his eyes up and down my body. His voice was low, purring out his commands as he took control of the both of us. He was dominate. Very dominate. "Take your clothes off, Midnight. I think we both want to see you."

I swallowed, unsure if I wanted them to see my scars. "Promise me."

I didn't even have to say anything else, Will and Hann both understood.

Hann slowly scooted off the bed and Will propped himself up on his elbows as Hann walked over to me. He trailed his fingers up my left arm until he was behind me. He reached around and buried his face against my neck, blowing softly until I gave a small laugh. "You don't have to hide when you're with us, Midnight. We all have scars. We all know pain. Take your clothes off."

I reached up and slowly unbuttoned the dress I'd been wearing, letting it slip off my shoulders when I'd unbuttoned it to my waist. As it pooled around my feet I grabbed my slip and pulled it over my head as Hann ran his weathered palms up my back, following the silk until it was no longer reachable.

When my slip had joined my dress, Hann gently unsnapped my bra, curling his fingers beneath the strap so that he could press his body against my back and slid the bra off. He let it drop to the floor as Will watched him cup my scarred breasts. They overflowed even his large hands and he hummed his approval, squeezing them gently, his thumbs rubbing along the curling scars.

I was ashamed of my body. "He scarred my body until I hate looking at it."

Will slowly pushed himself off the bed and Hann allowed it as he stepped forward, his own scar visible in the light. He touched the scars trailing down my stomach. "But you're beautiful, Midnight. So beautiful."

He stepped the last step forward and cupped my cheeks, pulling my face up so that he could kiss me. He was gentle this time. I could still feel his hunger, his need, but he was gentle. Reassuring. Loving.

While Will kissed me, Hann gently pulled my panties down my legs, his warm lips laying their own kisses along my cheeks and the back of my legs. He lifted on foot and then the other before tossing my panties across the room to join Will's clothes. Now it was just him that was fully dressed and Will in his handsome blue boxers.

Hann moved around me and started undressing, loosening his tie and pulling it off; draping his suit jacket and vest over one of my chairs; slipping his shirt out of his pants as he first unbuttoned the cuffs and then the rest of the buttons before letting it slid off of him; then he toed off one perfectly shined shoe and then the other, pushing them beneath the chair as he unbuckled his belt, sliding it off as well; he leaned down, balancing perfectly as he pulled his dress socks off and laid them over the arm of the chair; finally came his pants and his boxer briefs all in one motion, stripping his body naked.

By then Will and I had stopped kissing and we were watching Hann.

As he turned to face the both of us we both sucked in a deep, sharp breath. His body was muscular and well defined, signs that he enjoyed taking care of his body. Fluffing along his chest were curls of light brown and silver hair, making him even sexier than fuck. But the most prized picture was standing straight out, the veins visible even from where we were standing.

I swallowed nervously; suddenly afraid of what was fixing to happen. I took a step behind Will and laid my head against one of his sexy shoulder blades. "I'm scared."

Hann slowly walked forward and Will turned around, scooping me into his arms, practically dancing me into Hann's. They hugged me, cotton boxers and a raging hard-on pressing against me in the front and Hann's bare throbbing cock pressed against my ass.

In one ear Will started telling me how beautiful he'd thought I was that first day and how amazing he thought I was and how strong I was. Hann whispered in the other that he would never hurt me nor would he allow anyone else to hurt me.

By the time they both pulled away I had tears in my eyes. They loved me and I loved them.

Screw only knowing them for a certain period of time. Screw all three of us being fucked up. If a man could look at my body and call me beautiful and promise to kill anyone else who'd hurt me then I could love them.

I flashed both of them a smile and stepped away from them, moving over to the bed. I turned and scooted backwards onto it. "Come here."

Will quickly slid his boxers off in one smooth, quick motion before he took the first step toward me and crawled onto the bed, moving to press against my right side, his skin completely bare this time. Hann didn't crawl, it was more like he prowled across the bed until he could drape around my left side. Their hands slid along my body, Will cupping one breast as Hann slid his hand down to play with the triangle of black curls between my legs. I allowed them to fall open so that he could have access. One of his long fingers slid just between my lips, rubbing against my clit.

The shock of sensations made me arch upwards against his hand and he chuckled. "Easy, Midnight."

I narrowed my eyes at Hann for a few seconds. "Fuck you."

He grinned in a very predatory way. "Oh, I plan on it… and I plan on having Will fuck you and then the both of us fuck you and then I'll take Will as he takes you until your body can't even twitch from exhaustion."

I swallowed roughly, knowing I was barely going to live through the night. "Fuck."

Hann's finger slid all the way into my nether lips and pushed its way inside of me, his laughter rumbling out of his chest as I gasped at the sensation of his finger filling me. "Exactly."

* * *

After several round of exhausting sex between all three of us, I lay exhausted on the bed, sandwiched between my two men, staring at the ceiling.

For one of the first times in my life I felt relaxed. Will was sleeping, his poor body bruised, worn, and exhausted. Hann had made mad love to him until Will had dropped from unconsciousness.

Right now he was sleeping on his side, his body curled and facing towards me and Hann. Hann was still awake… How? I had no clue. He was like a machine.

At the moment though his left hand was tracing the arch of my hip and he was watching me. "Are you alright, Midnight?"

I turned my body slightly so that I could see him over my shoulder. "Yah… probably for the first time since before…" I lifted my hand and flopped it around as if it could express what I was trying to say.

Hann understood. "It makes me happy then."

I scooped up Hann's hand, rolling the rest of the way onto my back so that I could slowly trace the smooth, barely visible scars that were the only thing marring Hann's beautiful body. "Will you stay with me and Will for as long as possible?"

Hann frowned down at me. "Why would you ask such a thing?"

I peeked over at Will to ensure that he was asleep and his small barely audible snores told me he was. I looked back up Hann and reached up to push back a messed up lock of his silver and brown hair. "I know who you are, Hann."

The only sign that Hann knew what I was talking about was the slight flinch of his eyes. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about, Midnight. You'll have to be more specific."

His voice was suddenly neutral, calm, blank… scary. But I wasn't afraid of him. Not like I had been with the Collector. Somehow I knew I wasn't this man's victim. I was his treasure.

I lowered my hand down to the bite mark that bruised and cut into my skin above my right breast. I traced along the mark, flaking the dried blood. Hann had marked me as his. He'd marked Will too in the same place. "There is only one thing that sparked a memory about one of the victims of the cannibal Will and I are chasing."

I pressed one of my nails down against the teeth marks and tore my skin back open, sucking in a soft breath as my blood blossomed along the indents of the teeth. I looked back up Hann and found his eyes on my blood, lips slightly parted. "Out of the women you killed… rare as your victims were these past few years… one of them bore a bite mark on her inner thigh. It wasn't as deep as this, not meant to be as… permanent as this… but it's the same size as your teeth. I don't need a molding of the mark or your teeth to know this. I can feel it in my skin. I can feel it as I trace along the dips in my flesh. It was your teeth, Hann."

Hann's burning eyes shifted up to mine as I saw his hunger there, his monster he hid so well. "Are you sure, love?" He trailed his fingers up my arm and inched them around my neck as if he would strangle me, but the pressure remained light.

"I know who you are, Hannibal… Lecter… Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Cannibal…" I paused to gauge the effect of my words. He didn't even flinch this time. "… and my lover."

Hannibal rolled onto his hands and knees and draped himself over my body, kneeing my legs apart so that he could settle his flesh against my own. I could feel the power of his body, power that hummed from deep inside of him. It was as if he'd thrown his mask off but at the same time he hadn't been wearing a mask. He'd been himself, just hiding a small portion of who he was. Now I could see him in the raw and it sped my pulse up as I burned with desire for him.

"How perceptive you are, my love, how perceptive indeed. The only other person to find out who I am was Will…" His eyes flicked to where Will was still curled into a ball. "My precious mongoose."

"Mongoose?"

Hannibal chuckled and scraped his teeth against my collarbone, making me arch upwards. I could feel him hard and ready between my legs but he made no move to enter me. "When I was first working with Will before he found out who I was, I told him that Crawford thought of him as a fragile teacup. Will asked my opinion of him and I told him that I thought of him as the mongoose I would like under my porch when the snake slithered by."

I smiled up at him, finally understanding. Will was definitely a mongoose. He was deceptively strong. "I guess that makes sense." I wrapped my legs around Hannibal's waist, locking my ankles behind his back. I made a small rocking movement and loved watching as Hannibal's eyes slid shut above me. "I accept you, Hannibal. Cannibal or no."

Hannibal slowly reached down in between us and guided himself into me, pushing quickly until he was sheathed all the way, stretching and filling me, his body connected to mine in the most intimate way possible.

His hands reached up and buried themselves in my long hair, fisting tightly so that he could pull my head back. He nipped along my throat. "Why accept me when I'm as much as, if not more of a monster, then the man who'd hurt you in the past?"

I tried to wiggle beneath Hannibal, urging him to move, but he didn't. He stopped nipping and stared down at me, commanding me with his beautiful eyes to tell him.

I reached up and traced along the bow of his upper lip. "There is a quote that has haunted me for a long time and I finally understand what it means. Marianne Williamson once said, "Until we have seen someone's darkness, we don't really know who they are. Until we have forgiven someone's darkness, we don't really know what love is." That's why I can accept you, because you've accepted my own darkness and you've forgiven it."

Hannibal started to say something but I leaned upward and cut him off with a kiss. When I pulled away I continued. "Not with words, Hannibal, but through your actions. Through the way you see me… and the way you see Will."

Hannibal buried his face into the hollow of my throat and his chest rumbled against mine as he spoke. "I've only loved four people in my life, Midnight. My precious sister, Mischa; my precious mongoose, Will; Agent Starling when she came to see me when I was imprisoned and when I had escaped; and…." Hannibal moved until he was looked back down at me. He pressed soft kisses across my face, along the bridge of my nose, against my closed eyelids. "Now you."

I felt tears burn at the corners of my eyes but I blinked them away as Hannibal slowly started to pull out of me, his body in complete control.

I moaned as he began snapping his hips forward and slowly pulling out. He was pure torture. He knew how to use his body. I slid my arms around to his back and sank my nails into his skin, pressing hard enough to reopen my previous scratch marks. His back rippled as he sighed in pleasure and started picking up the pace, hitting the very end of me with each thrust. He bit against my neck over and over and devoured me. I could feel the burning needy sensation of my climax as he thrust away and I began whimpering.

There was a soft groan beside us from Will and I slowly turned my head, stilling my body in case he woke up. He only groaned again and rolled onto his back. His breath was laboured and I took a peek down his naked body, watching as his cock grew hard. It was a beautiful sight but cut short when Hannibal gripped my jaw, stopping his movements so that he was barely inside of me. He growled down to me in a strong, commanding voice that had no option of refusal. "Look at me, Midnight. Me. Watch as I worship your body."

He shifted back to sit on his heels and jerked my hips upwards onto his thighs so that my body was arched and open to him. He was almost cruel as he thrust forward. It was painful but it was also what I liked.

I couldn't form words but I screamed in my mind. " _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Gods dammit. Fuck. Hannibal. Fuck_."

He smiled down at me as if he knew what I was screaming in my mind, flashing his teeth and growling with each thrust. The muscles in his arms flexed as he moved in and out, over and over, abusing my tender flesh.

I looked away from Hannibal's face to where our flesh was repeatedly married together with such force the headboard was smacking against the wall. Lights started floating around me as my eyes rolled backwards and my body arched until it looked like I would break my back.

That's when Will's hands slid beneath my back to support me and his lips found my right breast, sucking the nipple into his mouth. He was definitely not asleep anymore.

I convulsed as the flames of my orgasm raged over me. Hannibal growled possessively and sped up, his movements becoming less controlled as he fought his body for control.

Hannibal's deep thrusts brought wave after wave of orgasm until I felt him tense above me and his cock pulse inside where I was squeezing him tightly. He thrust once, twice more before he spilt his seed inside of me. It burned and filled me and I slumped back down against the bed as Hannibal leaned forward and laid a kiss against my stomach before pulling slowly out of me.

He looked at Will who was watching him as he pulled out. "Take her, Will. I want to see the both of you together."

Will moved to where Hannibal had been and his hands squeezed my thighs as he looked down at me open and vulnerable, slick and wet from Hannibal's abuse. His nails pressed into my skin and I sucked in a deep breath as I looked down my body at him. "Will."

"Turn onto your stomach."

I slowly rolled over, my body nearly refusing to work. Being fucked this many times in one night should be impossible but Hannibal and Will were greedy men… needy men.  _Hungry men_.

When I was lying on my stomach, Will wrapped his hands around my waist and lifted my hips upwards until my butt was sticking up in the air in a very undignified manner. I clutched the damp sheets beneath me as he slowly pushed his way inside of me. When he was as far as he could go he stopped and ran his hands down my back, tracing over my scars. I shivered and wiggled my hips, making him groan softly. He started moving, torturing me with each slow plunge.

Hannibal slowly slid down onto the bed and turned onto his side so that he could watch the both of us. I turned my head sideways and watched him as Will worked himself in and out of me.

I let go of the sheet with my left hand and reached out to Hannibal. He took my hand in his and brought it up to his lips, kissing one knuckle after the other.

Will, usually non-aggressive, smacked my ass sharply. I snapped my head upwards and narrowed my eyes at him over my shoulder. He reached forward and grabbed a handful of my hair, pulling until I was forced to rise upwards onto my hands. He pressed his body against mine until he could whisper roughly into my ear. "It's my turn, Midnight. Not his." His hands found my breasts as he started moving again in painfully delicious snaps, the sound of his body hitting mine mixing with my moans.

It wasn't long before my body clenched tightly around Will's thrusting cock and I started to spasm with my orgasm. I let out a loud sob of pleasure as he started going fast, pushing harder, losing any form of control. His seed burned deep inside of me as he thrust one last time, his hands squeezing my breasts tightly and his teeth buried into my shoulder.

I slumped forward onto my stomach and Will followed, being careful not to squish me with his body. "Gods…" I struggled to catch my breath. I felt Will shift all the way off of me and curl up onto his side where Hannibal had been laying previously. I slowly rolled onto my back so that I could stare up at the ceiling. "Gods, I don't think I can do it anymore. I can barely move. Fuck, I can barely see straight."

Hannibal reached out and traced his knuckles down my sweaty arm. "Good. I told you that you wouldn't be able to even twitch from exhaustion."

I rolled my eyes and moved onto my side so that I could spoon against Hannibal's warm naked body. Will grunted as he did the same and pushed his beautiful ass against me as I wrapped my arm around his waist and Hannibal draped his hand across my arm, hugging the both of us.

Hannibal buried his face against my neck. "Always mine, Midnight."

I smiled as I slipped off to sleep. I felt safe with Hannibal and Will on either side of me, sleeping, protecting me, loving me.


	5. Part 4: Discovery

**Part 4: Discovery**

* * *

 

It's now been a month and a half since I'd moved to London and classes had been going better than the first month. I would probably say it was because I had two amazing men taking care of me every day.

We hadn't moved along any further with the investigation because we couldn't. I knew who Hannibal was but Will still had no idea and it was almost as if Hannibal had dropped off the planet.

He had though… in a sense. He hadn't killed anyone since the night I'd told him I knew who he was and in a way I was very happy. It disturbed me just a little that I was dating… was I dating?... a cannibal.

But now that we hadn't made any progress on the case, Crawford had flown himself to London and was going over everything we'd found. Will was with him right now going over things in Crawford's hotel room and I was stuck in class wondering what they would discover together.

There was a small tap on my shoulder and I jerked out of my thoughts to find myself face to face with Hannibal. I frowned and looked around but found that my Counseling Methods class was over and everyone had left.

I blushed and looked back at Hannibal. "I guess I spaced out?"

Hannibal straightened back up, his hands brushing across his suit to smooth out all of the none-existent wrinkles. "Are you ok, Midnight? You've been out of it since this morning."

I started putting my books into my backpack and avoided looking Hannibal in the eyes. "Everything is alright."

Hannibal's hand captured mine, stopping me from putting my last book into my bag. "Liar."

I let out a small sigh and sat back in my chair. "Crawford arrived this morning and he's looking over everything with Will."

"Oh." Hannibal moved over to the desk beside me and sat down in the chair. "I guess that would be something to be distracted over."

"I'm afraid with Crawford here Will might find something that will tie… you… to the case."

"You don't have to fear that."

I stood up and knelt down in front of Hannibal, taking his hands into mine. I rubbed my thumbs along his knuckles. "You're acting like the possibility of you being found out isn't a possibility at all."

"I know it's a possibility but I'm not afraid. I find it… intriguing. It's like a game of cat and mouse; to see who the better hunter is."

I bit my lip to hold back my anger. Instead, I let Hannibal's hands go and stood up, turning to place my last book into my bag. Without a further word to him I walked out of the classroom.

"Midnight."

I stopped but refused to look back at him. "It would hurt me to lose you." I slowly turned to face him and allowed him to see the pain in my eyes. "I've already lost so much in my life and when I finally have something…" I took a small step back towards him. "Someone…"

Hannibal moved quickly towards me, grabbing my hand. He didn't say anything as he pulled me behind him through the flow of students heading to their next class or going home.

When we got to his office he let go of my hand and quickly unlocked it. He jerked me inside and closed the door behind us, locking it before slamming me back against the wall.

He slid my backpack off of my shoulder and dropped it to the floor.

His hands slid into my hair and fisted tightly, craning my neck back so that his lips could devour mine. I whimpered as his hands slid from my hair and down along my arms, pressing against my hips, grabbing ahold of my skirt. He jerked the fabric up until his hands could find my bare thighs.

He pulled back from the kiss as he fisted my panties and ripped them off without a second thought, jerking me forward against him. "You're mine, Midnight. Mine. And I don't give up what is mine that easily."

I reached down to unbuckle Hannibal's belt but he slapped my hands away as he slid one of his legs in between mine, pressing against my tender swollen flesh. He made quick work of his belt and pants before reaching into his briefs, freeing himself. He was as hard as he'd ever been and I could see the small pearl of precum forming at the tip of him. I slowly reached down and slid my finger gently against it, enjoying the sound of his heavy breathing as I moved to grip him tightly.

I looked up at his face to enjoy the look of pure ecstasy that crossed it. "I'll protect you, Hannibal. I promise."

"I know."

Hannibal slid his hands behind my thighs and picked me up without any trouble. I quickly wrapped my legs around his waist as he reached in between us and guided himself into me. With a quick thrust upwards and a sharp gasp from me, he started fucking me against the wall. He buried his face against my chest as moved. I dug my nails into the fabric of his suit jacket and bit my lips so that I wouldn't moan out loud.

It wasn't long before I started to clinch tightly around him as he pumped in and out, my orgasm building one second and then bursting in the next. I allowed my head to fall back against the wall with a thump as his body thrust over and over until finally, with a deep growl against my throat, he released himself deep inside of me.

His teeth found my shoulder and he bit down, breaking skin. The pain pushed me into another orgasm. I let out a small squeak and tightened my legs around Hannibal's waist as we both slid down the wall. Hannibal's knees cushioned my ass and my legs dangled out behind us.

"Fucking shit." I tried to catch my breath.

Hannibal slowly released his teeth from my skin and his tongue brushed against the ragged cuts, cleaning away the blood. His hair was all over the place and his voice rough when he spoke. "I could eat you up, Midnight. That's how delicious you are. You blood, your essence. I crave it."

I let out a nervous laugh and reached up, burying my hand into his silky hair so that I could pull his face away from my shoulder. His eyes were almost black again. "It would be… unadvisable to eat me…"

His eyes bore into mine, dark and haunting. "Tell me you love me, Midnight."

I let go of Hannibal's hair and gently traced my fingers down the arch of his nose, slowly, over and over until he closed his beautiful eyes and sighed softly.

I leaned forward and pressed a kiss against each of his eyelids. "I love you." I kissed the tip of his nose. "I love you." I greedily kissed his lips, tasting my own blood on them. "I love you."

* * *

[ **Will** ]

"We're stuck, Crawford. I don't know what to do. There hasn't been another murder since the last one and no signs of Lecter at all. There are no records of his previously used fake names being used here in London. I can't feel him. I can't see him." I ran my hands through my hair and let out a frustrated breath. "It's like he's left."

Crawford stood up and walked over to the window, pushing back the heavy curtains so that he could see the autumn leaves starting to change colour. "Lecter isn't a man who is easily frightened away. I think he's still here. He's right under our noses and he's probably laughing at us."

I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose. I could feel a headache coming on. I walked over to where my jacket was hanging over the room's chair and dug in my pocket for my handy bottle of aspirin. I opened it and popped four of them into my mouth, dry swallowing them. "There's something bothering me about this case right now but I can't put a finger on it… I feel like I'm looking over something… missing the vital clue."

Crawford walked over to me and grabbed my shoulder, turning me to face him. He shoved my glasses back up the bridge of my nose and squeezed my shoulder in a sort of comforting way… in his own manner at least. "Go home, Will. If you stress out any more tonight I'm going to have to send you to the hospital. I don't need you in the hospital. I need your mind, Will."

I let out a small laugh. "My mind isn't what it used to be, Crawford. You should know that more than anyone at the BAU."

"I know." Crawford sighed and pushed me toward the door, tossing my jacket after me. "Go home, Will. Get some rest and we'll start again tomorrow."

I didn't argue. I pulled my jacket on and walked down to the lobby of the hotel, exiting into the parking garage. I slid into my car and laid my head against the steering wheel for a minute while I tried to gather my thoughts. Midnight would probably be home by now so I figured I'd go see her.

I sat up and started the car, putting in into gear and pulling out.

It only took me a short fifteen minutes to get from Crawford's hotel to Midnight's house. The lights were on and I could see the silhouette of Midnight in the front window. It looked like she was dancing.

I turned the car off and got out, heading up the driveway. I pulled out the spare keys she'd given me and quietly unlocked the door.

As I opened it I was greeted by the sound of a beautiful song. I slipped in and gently closed the door behind me, leaning against it as I watched her sway back and forth, her eyes closed and her body relaxed.

" _Can I pry your fingers from everything I, I say and do. And I just can't forget you; and your heart of stone. I can breathe. I can breathe. Water. Water. I can breathe. I can breathe. Water. Water. I can breathe. I can breathe. Water. Water. I can breathe. I can breathe. Water. When you're here with me, you're not here with me._ "

She was beautiful. I slowly walked towards her and gently touched her arm.

She stopped singing and whirled around, her beautiful green eyes wide as an innocent doe. "Will!"

I gave her a small smile. "You have a beautiful voice, Midnight."

Midnight blushed and hid behind her hair, a habit she still hasn't broken. "You surprised me… I… I didn't think you would be by tonight. I was just singing…" She lifted her iPod up to show me. "It's one of my favourite songs on my iPod."

I reached out and gently touched her blushing cheek. "What's next?"

She swallowed nervously and looked down at her iPod. "A Thousand Years by Christina Perri."

I took the remaining steps toward her until I could slide my hand down her arm. I took her iPod out of her hand and unplugged the headphones. I turned away from her and walked over to her stereo system. I searched around for a few seconds before I found the iPod jack. I slid it into its little cradle and restarted the song.

I turned the volume up on the stereo system and turned, holding my hand out to Midnight as the sound of the piano, guitar, and cello played. "Will you dance with me, Midnight?"

She looked at me silently for a few seconds before slipping her hand into mine. She allowed me to pull her close against my body as Christina Perri started to sing. I swayed back and forth with her, stepping in beat with the song. I could feel Midnight's body tremble against mine and I just pulled her tighter against mine.

She started singing softly for me. "I have died every day waiting for you. Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more."

I twirled her out away from me and pulled her back. Her eyes had small tears in them and I leaned down, kissing them away. "Don't cry, beautiful. You'll break my heart."

She gave a small shrug and refused to look at me. "I'm sorry."

I wrapped my arms around her and laid my chin on the top of her head as she fit perfectly against my body. I never thought I'd love anyone as much as I did her.

She was broken but she was perfect; strong but a small child at heart.

I swayed her back and forth and started to softly sing the new song that had started to play. "When I see your face. There's not a thing that I would change, 'cause you're amazing, just the way you are." I pulled away from her and smiled down at her. "And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while because girl, you're amazing just the way you are."

She let out a loud laugh and pushed all the way away from me so that she could sit down on the couch. "You don't sound too bad, Mr. Will Graham. Maybe you should make a CD."

I rolled my eyes and walked over, plopping down beside her and sprawling out in a comfortable position. "I know when someone's making fun of me, I hope you know."

She laughed again and leaned back so that she could curl up against my side. I draped an arm around her shoulder. "Whatever you say."

I chuckled and closed my eyes, breathing deeply of Midnight's amazing shampoo. It was cherry blossom and I was addicted to it. She snuggled a little closer and wrapped her arm around my chest, hugging me to her. I felt her breath even out and her body relax.

I opened my eyes one last time to watch her fall asleep for a second before following behind her.

I always felt relaxed around her and right now I just needed sleep.

* * *

[ **The Next Day** ]

I knew something. I knew there was something I was over looking as I reviewed all of the case files of Lecter's murders.

I'd woken up early, from a dream… or something, and I'd gone straight to the case files. I knew something; I could feel I knew something. There was some small face I'd seen in my dream that led me to believe this.

Lecter had met with each victim once outside of him killing them. I just had to connect the dots.

_**-Marian Frankus-** _

I opened the file of one of the few female victim of Hannibal Lecter and stared down at her picture. She was a beautiful woman, bearing a stern and strong look. She had been a travel agent, so she was probably connected to him in that she helped him get here and settle in.

Reading further into the case notes allowed me to take note that she hadn't been liked very much by those who worked with her because she didn't play nice when it came to getting what she wanted.

Hannibal Lecter had probably killed her because of that… after meeting with her several times to get what he could out of her. He just wasn't in her records… or he had altered himself enough to elude us once again - despite the cannibal killings telling us he was in London.

I slammed my fist against the table and shuffled the pictures of the crime scene around, staring at them intently.

The only thing that struck me wrong was the bite mark that she had on her thigh. Something about that sparked something in my memories.

_Bite mark. Bite mark. Bite mark._

_Teeth._

_Bite marks…._

Why would he leave bite marks on her thigh? She was clearly Hannibal Lecter's victim, but why the bite?

_Bite mark. Bite mark. Bite mark…_

Why would someone leave bite marks on a person's thigh? Most would think sexual, sure, but could that be the case here? Hannibal Lecter had never bitten anyone before in a sexual manner…

… except…

I closed my eyes and thought back to the time before Hannibal Lecter had tried to kill me. I thought back to his relationship with Alanna Bloom. They had both had a sexual relationship with each other, which had surprised everyone at the FBI when it was discovered that Lecter was our cannibal.

I clenched my fist, crumpling one of Marian's pictures with the action. I had fallen in love with Hannibal Lecter sometime during our time working together… or had felt something like love at least… so I'd been upset finding they'd been together.

What I'd felt for Lecter had been wrong.

And Hannibal Lecter had tried to kill Alanna Bloom despite their sexual relationship.

One of the things she'd confessed after the fact was that he had bitten her several times, as a form of possession.

_Bite marks. Possession. Love. Bite marks…_

Midnight had bite marks from our love-making with Hann. I also had gotten bite marks after our love-making with Hann.

I swallowed roughly and got up, heading into the bedroom where I had carried Midnight last night after we'd both fell asleep and then me waking up an hour later.

She was still sleeping. I stared down at her and at observed how peaceful she slept.

Kneeling down I pushed her head to the side and touched the bite mark marring her bare shoulder. It was fresher than the previous marks spaced across her neck and shoulders, all fading slowly. I could clearly see the teeth marks that had ripped open her skin and I knew she'd bled.

As I traced across the bumps and scabbing I remembered the mold the FBI techs had made of the bite mark on Marian's thigh.

I could see it now.

I stood quickly and stumbled back, hitting the edge of the bedside table and knocking the lamp off. The crashing sound caused Midnight to sit upright, clutching the blanket to her chest, her eyes wide.

I stared blankly at her as she focused on me.

"Will? What's wrong, Will?"

I turned away and headed back into the dining room where I had all of the files and boxes of evidence spread out. I grabbed the closest box and started digging for the bite mark mold.

I heard Midnight walk into the dining room but I refused to acknowledge her presence.

"Will?"

Finally in the second box I started digging in I found it and pulled it out. I ran my finger along it, feeling the marks both physically in my hand and a few moments ago when I traced across them on Whisper's shoulder.

"No."

I shook my head and slammed my fists down onto the table, sending photos and papers flying everywhere as I did it over and over again.

"NO!"

Midnight's scared voice behind me called my name once again. "Will. What's wrong? Did…" She was silent for a moment and I turned slowly to face her. She swallowed nervously as she looked up at me. "Did you find something?"

I could see clearly now.

Hann Mathiasen was Hannibal Lecter.

I dropped the bite mold and stepped forward quickly, grabbing Whisper's arms tightly, giving her a shake. "You know, don't you?!"

Her brows furrowed and her voice shook. With fear? With horror? I didn't care to know, I just wanted answers.

"Know what, Will? You're scaring me."

I growled and quickly shoved her back against the kitchen wall roughly. I kept one hand on her arm and the other I placed around her neck, tightening slightly in warning. "Don't lie to me, Midnight. Please don't lie to me. All I want is to know if you knew who he was this whole time?"

"I…"

I tightened my fingers a little. "Midnight. I know you know. You are a profiler like me, so you must have pieced it together as well. Right? Right, Midnight?"

I felt her swallow before she spoke. "Will… I…" She refused to look away from me as her voice steadied and her body stopped shaking. "Yes, I pieced it together, Will. I found out who Hannibal Lecter was."

I frowned and looked her pleadingly in the eyes. "When? Why didn't you say anything? Did he threaten to kill you if you told me?"

Her eyes never faltered as she stared up at me. "No, he never threatened me. And I found out several weeks ago. I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want… I didn't want us to break apart. You. Me. Hannibal. I wanted us to stay together for as long as we could."

I felt sick.

"You… even after… even after finding out he is a cannibal? After I told you how he tried to kill me after using me? You wanted us to stay together?!"

I brought my other hand up and wrapped it around her neck before starting to tighten both of them, cutting off her air. My rage and hurt poured through me. But despite the fact that I was choking her, Midnight didn't try to stop me. She just stared up at me as her eyes began to water and her lips opened to try and suck in air.

Her hands were gentle as they wrapped around my wrists, refusing to pull my hands away from her throat.

I couldn't kill her even if she was willing to let me.

I screamed and released her neck, slamming my fists into the wall behind her head over and over until the skin split and blood stained the edges of the holes in the wall.

Midnight just stood there, sucking in air, watching me.

She waited until I finally stopped screaming.

She reached up and touched my cheek, even though I flinched away. "I love you, Will. I love you both, as fucked up as it may seem."

I shook my head and stepped away from her. I had to get Crawford. I had to get to Hannibal before he escaped again… before he tried to kill Midnight just like he tried to kill me.

"I have to go. I need to get Crawford. He has to know."

Midnight's eyes widened and she finally grabbed me to stop me. "No, Will. You can't!"

I slapped her hands away and turned to grab my jacket, slipping it on before grabbing my gun and doing the same. "Tell him I'm coming for him, Midnight. I won't let him escape from me again. I won't let him to corrupt and murder anyone else."

Before Midnight could say anything else I made my way to the door, quickly unlocking all of her locks, and left. I could hear her calling after me but I refused to listen.

Catching Hannibal Lecter was my duty. I didn't care if I loved him or if he was just using me. He needed to be stopped.


	6. Part 5: Can't Stay

**Part 5: Can't Stay**

* * *

 

Hannibal had been found out.

Will had figured out who he was. It had been by accident, purely by accident like it had the first time Will had caught Hannibal. Now Will knew and he'd left. He'd gone to call Crawford. He'd gone to find Hannibal.

Gods, I don't know what he went to do but I couldn't just stay in my house. I was the only one who knew where Hannibal actually lived since he'd been taking me there for a few weeks now, ever since I'd found out who he was.

I desperately had to save the man that I loved… or one of the men that I loved.

Will… I didn't know what he was going to do with this knowledge, but the hurt that I had seen in his eyes told me it wouldn't be good for anyone. Not for me, and especially not for Hannibal.

Grabbing my jacket and keys I ran out of my house, not even bothering to lock it. I had to get to Hannibal before anyone else did.

I pushed the garage button and slammed my car door closed, turning it on and pulling out with a squeal of tires. I drove as fast as I could without breaking any laws. Thankfully traffic wasn't a problem so I made it to the outskirts of town fast enough. Now I had to find Hannibal's driveway and wind my way through the gravel road leading to his estate.

I picked up my phone and dialed Hannibal's speed dial. He didn't answer so I cursed and stepped on the gas. I felt confident enough on this road to drive this fast. I had to get to him. I didn't know if he was home or not, but I was hoping he was.

When his house came into view I let out a sob of desperation and slammed the car to a stop outside of the front door. I turned my car off and jumped out, running up the stairs so that I could practically rip the door open.

I stepped inside and closed it behind me, locking it and turning. "Hannibal!" There was no reply and I felt tears burning down my cheeks. "Hannibal!"

I ran through the foyer, down the hallway beside the grand staircase, and back into the kitchen. He wasn't there. I went through the kitchen and out into the greenhouse where Hannibal loved to grow all of his own vegetables and herbs.

I saw him standing at the back of his greenhouse, his back turned to me. I stopped in the doorway and tried to catch my breath, my heart pounding a million miles a minute. "Hannibal."

Hannibal froze in what he was doing and slowly turned to me. When he saw me his eyes grew wide with concern and he dropped the potted plant he'd been holding. He strode over to me and his large, strong, weathered hands gripped my arms tightly. "Midnight. What's wrong? Are you alright?" His eyes focused on the light bruising beginning to show where Will had started to choke me. Hannibal brought a hand up and gently touched it with the tips of his fingers. "Where is Will?"

I let out another sob and clutched at his shirt, fisting the fabric tightly as if I could anchor myself to him. "He…" I couldn't suck in enough air. "He… Will… I…"

Hannibal scooped me up into his arms and strode back into the kitchen. He sat me down on the island in the middle of his kitchen and moved around, grabbing a cup from the cabinet and filling it with water. He came back and pressed it into my hands before reaching up and wiping away my tears with his thumb. "Tell me what happened, Midnight. Why are you crying?"

More tears came as I gulped the water down. When the glass was empty I sat it down beside me on the marble and stared into Hannibal's worried eyes. "Will put everything together, Hannibal. He knows who you are. He knows that I know. He… I don't know what he's going to do but he left. He stormed out and said he was getting Crawford."

Hannibal soaked all of it in and when I stopped talking he slowly reached up and cupped my cheek. I could see the fear in his eyes. "How did he find out?"

I gave a small shrug. "He was looking through the evidence boxes in the dining room after waking me up accidentally. He started asking me if I knew and how long I knew before he grabbed me and slammed me against the wall. He asked me if I knew who you were. I tried to lie to him but he knew. He looked horrified. Then he…" I reached up and wrapped my hand around Hannibal's. "He started choking me but I didn't stop him. He stopped himself before leaving. He told me to tell you he was coming for you. He left to get Crawford so they're probably going to find us really soon."

Hannibal pulled me forward against his chest and allowed me to cry. My body shook with each sob and his hands rubbed circles against my back. "Shhh, now, Midnight. They're not going to hurt me."

I pushed away from him and swallowed back the lump in my throat. "Liar. Don't lie to me. I know what they're going to do. If they can't bring you in they're going to kill you. They're going to hunt you down. I can't let that happen." I slid down from the island and wrapped my arms tightly around Hannibal's waist, burying my face against his chest. "Please. Don't let them kill you, Hannibal. Please, please, please."

Hannibal slowly ran his hand through my hair, clutching me as tightly as I was him. "Shhh, Midnight. Shhh. I'm a bad man. I know that. They know that." He pulled slightly away and forced me to look up at him. "You know that." He leaned down and kissed me, devouring me as if it would be the last time… and it probably would be.

I pulled away from the kiss and slammed my fist against Hannibal's chest. "I know who you are, Hannibal. But fuck them. You've slowly started to change… for me… for Will…" I growled and hit Hannibal's chest again. "Leave with me, Hannibal. Right now. We can go to your birthplace. Leave so that no one can find us. They can't hurt you then."

Hannibal sighed and pulled away, tucking my arm into the crook of his. He moved out of the kitchen, tugging me along with him. "I can't do that, Midnight. I can't risk your life, or Will's… even if he… betrays me again."

He turned and we started going up the main staircase. He didn't say anything until we'd made it to the top and turned down the hallway towards his room. "I have to atone for my sins someday, Midnight. One day. All men do."

We reached his room and he turned me, slamming me back against the door. He used his body to pin me. He leaned down and kissed me roughly, biting against my bottom lip and splitting it open. He licked at the blood as it pooled out and then shoved his tongue inside my mouth, dueling with mine.

When he pulled away I could almost see stars and my body was burning with desire. "Midnight, precious Midnight." He kissed me lighter this time.

His hand found the door and he opened it while kissing me over and over again, then he scooped me up against his chest and strode into his room. He laid me gently onto the bed as his hands feverishly ripped at my clothes. Within minutes I was completely naked beneath his hands.

He stepped away from me and began unbuttoning his shirt. He slipped it off as soon as it was open and then started unbuckling his belt. He didn't bother pulling it out of the loops but instead unbuttoned and unzipped his pants and shoved them down his legs, stepping out of them and tossing them to the side. He was beautiful, his cock happy to be free from the restraints of his clothes.

His socks and shoes were short work before he was crawling across the bed to drape his body across mine. I ran my hands down his chest as he pulled my legs out and up so that he could drape them across his shoulders. I didn't look away from his eyes as he pushed himself into me with one strong thrust. He moved with steady thrusts and met my gaze.

"Never leave me. Please. I want…" He cut my words off with a strong snap of his hips. I gasped and arched my back, dancing my hips forward to meet his thrusts. "Hannibal."

My climax started to build, burning and rolling through my body, tingling every nerve. I dug my nails into Hannibal's arms as he shifted his body upwards a little more, curling my legs up around my shoulders.

Hannibal growled down to me and his eyes burned almost red as he need for release raged through him. "Come for me, Midnight. Scream. I want to feel you lose control before I'm finished."

Each thrust was deeper and harder than the last before I felt the fire of my orgasm roll over me. I let out a loud scream, not bothering to stifle it. Hannibal reached down, wrapping his arms beneath my shoulders and lifting me up as he rocked back onto his heels. I clung to him as he moved over and over. When I felt him spasm inside of me I cried out again as he sent me over the edge; he was quick to follow after me.

Even as he spilt his burning seed inside of me, he thrust until his body was shaking for the strain. "Midnight."

When he stopped moving and his hands slackened from behind me I allowed myself to fall backwards onto the bed, my chest raising and falling as I tried to control my breathing. My body jerked every few seconds as my orgasms slowly vanished. Hannibal slowly slid out from between my legs and curled up onto his side, pulling me up against his body.

I curled up against him, laying my cheek against his chest. I could hear his racing heart and I smiled as I closed my eyes, exhaustion stealing me off to sleep. "I love you, Hannibal. I'll always love you."

Hannibal slowly stroked his hand up and down my back as I drifted off to sleep. "I'll always love you too, my love."

Those were the last words I heard before I slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep, Hannibal's heartbeat lulling me.

* * *

[ **Hannibal** ]

I don't know how many hours I lay there holding Midnight but with each passing one I knew what I had to do. I knew it would break her heart, but I couldn't continue to be on the run.

When the moon started to raise outside, I slowly slipped out from beneath Midnight and pulled the blanket up around her, tucking her in tightly. I walked over to the pile of clothes in the middle of the floor and pulled on my briefs.

Heading down to the kitchen I opened the fridge and pulled out orange juice, poured a cup, and then headed back upstairs.

After giving Midnight a small kiss on the cheek I walked over to my desk and sat down, reaching into one of my drawers and pulling out pen and paper.

As the hours passed by and the moon followed its path across the night sky I wrote out a long note to Midnight.

Everything I owned would go to her. My family estate in Lithuania, my possessions in this house, the money in my bank accounts. My last name.

The last one had already been done without her knowing. I'd already filled out a wedding certificate, forging her name and signing mine and filed it. The lawyer I'd went to had been reluctant at first but when I threatened him and his family's life he'd done as I'd requested. Just yesterday I'd gotten the documents in the mail that showed that Midnight was my legal wife.

I was a man who always got what he wanted.

When I was finished writing the letter to her, detailing what I wanted her to do after I was gone, I reached back into my desk draw and pulled out the new certificate, ID, my legal will, and papers that would prove to Midnight she was my wife. She was now Mrs. Midnight Lecter.

I stood up and headed downstairs into the kitchen where Midnight had left her purse. I dug through it and pulled out her driver's license and her social security card. I replaced them with the new ones and slid her new birth certificate, my will, the marriage certificate, the papers proving we were married, and the letter to her into her purse, closing it once I was finished.

With a small sigh I walked over to the phone beside the backdoor and picked it up. I dialed Will's number by heart and waited as it rang.

I had never wanted to hurt Will but I had and now I'd hurt him again… deceived him into loving the man he'd hated for so long.

After six rings Will's groggy voice answered. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Will."

I heard Will sit straight up in bed and his voice cleared up. "Lecter."

"How are you doing, Will?"

"Why?" I closed my eyes at the pain I heard in his voice. "Why, Lecter? Tell me why."

I propped my hip up against the kitchen counter and looked out the glass back door as the sun started tainting the sky with oranges and pinks. "Because I loved you."

"Liar!" Will slammed his fist against something on his end of the phone. "You used me, Lecter. You used my emotions."

"Will… dear Will…"

"DON'T call me that, Lecter. I should have known it was you. I should have recognized you that first night. Why did you play my heart, Lecter? Some sick game? To break my mind some more? Wasn't nearly killing me once not enough for you?"

"I didn't want to kill you, Will… I only did what I did because you were threatening to take away my freedom. When we were working together, catching all those bad guys, I felt… alive with you. I loved you even then, Will."

Will was silent for almost a minute before he spoke again, his voice cold and emotionless. "You were a monster, Lecter, just like you are at this very moment."

"Do you love me, Will? Do you feel anything for me?"

"No. I feel nothing but rage and betrayal."

My heart hurt at his words but I knew there would be only two ways he would react when he found out about me; hate me or love me. He hated me without a doubt.

I bowed my head and cupped my face with my free hand. "I'm sorry, Will. I truly never meant to hurt you." I knew what I had to do. "If you really want to take me back in, Will, lock me back up forever, all you have to do is go to my office. You'll find what you need in order to find me. I'll be waiting."

I hung up before Will could say anything else and put the phone back on the hook. I slowly made my way back upstairs so that I could shower and dress before Will and the FBI arrived.

And before they did I planned on giving Midnight a shot of morphine to keep her asleep. I didn't want her to be awake when Will and the FBI came for me. I knew it wouldn't take them long to find me and I wanted everything to be in order.

I had a plan… a plan that was flawless.

* * *

It was nearly noon by the time they arrived in force. I'd set up my hunting stand in the woods behind my house and had my rifle propped up, ready if anybody but Will came for me. I wanted it to be Will. I wanted him to look me in the eyes when he killed me. It would be one final win against him and a final act of love for him… and for Midnight.

Looking through my scope I watched as Will stepped out of one of the FBI's standard black SUVs with Crawford. I picked up my cell phone and dialed his number, watching as he answered. He walked a little ways away from Crawford. "Where are you, Hannibal"

"Midnight's inside asleep. Try to make sure they don't disturb her until we're through here. I don't want her to get in the middle of this."

Will was silent for a long moment before he covered the phone and barked out orders to some of the agents. When he came back onto the phone he started looking around for me. "Where are you?"

I gave a small smile. "You'll have to come find me, Will. A game to see if the mongoose is stronger than the lion."

"Lecter, I'm not going to play games anymore. I don't want to kill you."

I sighed. "And I'm not going to be locked away. I've enjoyed my years of freedom, Will, and I will either be free or die trying. You should know this, precious Will."

I heard him growl into the phone and then he hung up. I watched through my scope as he started talking with Crawford and pointed to different places around my estate.

After a few minutes he pulled his gun out and walked into the woods, heading in the opposite direction of me. I sighed and sighted through my scope at one of the agents who was sitting and smoking a cigarette. I never did like lazy people. I pulled the trigger and hummed with approval when the bullet punctured the man's shoulder, throwing him backwards.

Agents swarmed around the man and Will came running back into sight. After assessing the situation he turned towards where I was perched in my hunting stand. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed my number.

I answered on the first ring. "I hate lazy men, Will."

"Guns aren't your thing, Lecter. Blades are."

I gave a small shrug. "Blades. Guns. Whatever works is fine by me."

Will started moving in my direction. "Are you really going to make me kill you, Lecter?"

"Only if you want to."

"I will, Lecter."

"I know. I've know you were capable of killing me the moment you killed Garret Jacob Hobbs." I gave a long sigh and sat my rifle down on the floor of the stand. I moved to the hatch and started climbing down, holding the phone in between my shoulder and ear.

When I was on the ground I slid the phone back into my hand. "If you keep going straight, Will, you'll find me in one of the most beautiful meadows I have on my property. If you bring anyone else they'll die. I promise you that. So keep that in mind when you come for me. Their blood will be on your hands."

I hung up and tucked my phone into my suit jacket. This wasn't my best suit so I didn't mind if it got a little dirty while romping through the woods. I headed towards the meadow I'd told Will about and found myself a little perch on one of the largest boulders.

The sun was warm and I closed my eyes, soaking up what might be the last warmth of September that I'd probably ever feel.

When I heard branches cracking close by I shifted towards the sound and watched as Will stepped into sight, his gun aimed at me, his hands steady. He stopped walking when he was close to the boulder. "Lecter."

I pushed myself off the boulder and landed with a soft thud infront of him. I stopped moving when I felt Will's gun press against the top of my head. "Shoot, Will."

I watched the grass move in the light breeze while I waited for Will to respond. It was a beautiful day to die. "Stand up, Hannibal. Slowly."

I did as he asked, standing slowly until I was towering over him. I smiled. "You're like a piece of art today, Will. The sun behind you, your curls blowing back and forth. The gun in your hand steadier than ever before."

Will lowered his gun, resting it against his thigh. "Why play me, Hannibal? Tell me that? Why now? Don't you realize the trauma, the nightmares, I experienced after you nearly killed?"

My heart ached at the pain I saw in his eyes and heard in his voice. "It wasn't my plan to play you, Will. Not when I've loved you since the first time we worked together."

" _Liar."_

"I do apologize for almost killing you." I took a small step forward, raising my hand to touch Will's shoulder.

He jerked back and raised his gun before I could. "Don't touch me." He took a couple steps back. "Your apology comes too late, Hannibal. My mind… isn't the same. It's more twisted than ever, sick beyond repair. I'm barely hanging on by a thread to my sanity."

I sighed and knelt down in front of him, absently running my fingers through the slightly green blades of grass. "If I could take back what I've done to you, Will, I would. In the blink of an eye. Loving you and loving Midnight has… shown me the better side of life." I tilted my head upwards so that I could look at Will. "Did you know I promised her I wouldn't eat anymore 'free-range' rude?"

Will shook his head, his beautiful curls bouncing, and the sunlight bringing out the light gold of his hair. "No."

I closed my eyes and allowed a small smile to play across my face. "For both of you I would give up my very life…"

"I'm not asking for your life, Hannibal."

I cracked one eye open. "But I won't give up my freedom."

"Hannibal."

I stood up in one smooth motion and brushed the wrinkles out of my suit. "I'm sorry, Will."

I lunged aggressively at Will, not fully intending to hurt him.

Will's gun fired seconds before I would have wrapped my arms around him.

I crumpled to the ground, blood splattered across the lower half of my jaw as I struggled to take a breath. I could feel my blood flowing out of me but I didn't know where he'd shot me.

Will dropped his gun and followed it to the ground, a look of horror masked across his face. He gently reached out and touched my side, pressing his palm against the jagged hole in my suit. "Why? Why, Hannibal? For fucks sake, why did you make me shoot you?"

I smiled up at him and slowly reached up to cup his scruffy cheek, grimacing at the pain that sliced through my side. "Because I love two people."

I slumped a little to the side and coughed roughly, blood pooling at the corner of my mouth. Will scooted quickly around to my side and gently laid me down onto his lap, his hand running over and over through my hair, my blood on his hand matting it. " _I can't. I can't_." Will shook his head and started to rock back and forth as I stared up at him. "I'm sorry, Hannibal. I'm sorry. I do love you. Why? Fucking why?"

I let out a small gasp as I shifted, reaching up to pull his face down to mine. I pressed my bloody lips against his and the taste of blood and tears mingled together. I whispered softly against his lips. "Take care of her… pl…ease…" My eyes closed and I felt the world slip away from me, my body drifting into a silent dark world.


	7. Part 6: Chaotic Aftermath

**Part 6: Chaotic Aftermath**

* * *

 

[ **Midnight** ]

Will let out a loud, ragged scream as he clutched Hannibal's body tightly, rocking back and forth. The FBI could hear him keening as it echoed through the woods and up to the house.

It took only a few minutes before I heard it myself. It pushed back the fog of heavy sleep and I sat upright in bed, looking around to find the source.

I slid to the side of the bed and held my head, fighting a sudden nauseous feeling. "Hannibal?" I stood up, unsteady at first, and took a few steps towards the window. "Hannibal?"

There were footsteps on the stairs outside Hannibal's bedroom and I turned to face the door when it opened, expecting Hannibal. It wasn't. It was Crawford and he was staring at me in shock as I stood naked in front of him. "Midnight…"

I gasped and hurried back over to the bed, pulling the sheet off of the bed and wrapping it around my body. "What the hell are you doing here, Crawford? Where is Hannibal? Where… where is Will?"

Crawford took a step further into the room and closed the door behind him. "Midnight…" I watched as Crawford walked over to Hannibal's desk and sat down on top of it. He buried his face in the palm of his hands and sighed. "Hannibal is dead."

I swayed slightly and reached out for the bed post to steady myself. "You're lying. He was with me earlier."

Crawford allowed his hands to drop to his lap and he looked straight at me. "Were you sleeping with him, Midnight?"

"Maybe."

He sighed again. "Did you know he was the cannibal we were looking for?"

I swallowed the lump of fear in my throat and tried to stand as tall as I could, fighting my body's urge to fall to the floor. "Yes."

Crawford slowly stood up and walked over to me. He stopped a few feet away and I could see the disappointment in his eyes. "Why, Midnight? Why, when he was a man just like the one who kidnapped you for four years and tortured you?"

I looked down at the floor and studied the pattern of the wood. "He wasn't like that. He didn't hurt me."

"Midnight." He took the remaining steps forward and lifted my chin up, trying to force me to look at him. I closed my eyes like a child. "He used you."

"He loved me." I jerked away from him and walked over to the window, throwing it open. The sirens had died down but I could still hear someone crying brokenly. It took my breath away because I knew… I  _knew_  who it was. "Is… he… Is he really dead?"

I didn't need Crawford to answer my question though. As I looked down below I watched as Will and a bunch of other FBI agents rolled along a gurney with a bloody white sheet covering a body.

My knees gave out as Will looked up at me with so much guilt and pain in his eyes. "No! No, no, no, no, no!" Crawford hurried over to me and tried to touch me but I screamed. I smacked at him and screamed.

Will heard me screaming and took off running into the house.

"No, no, no, no!" I screamed, and screamed, and screamed. I clutched my head and pulled my hair. "No, no, no, no, no,  _no, nooo_!"

The bedroom door slammed open as Will and a couple of paramedics ran in. Crawford backed away from me as Will knelt down in front of me. "Shhh, Midnight. Please, don't scream."

I opened my eyes and stared up at Will. I looked at the blood on his pants; the blood on his shirt; the blood on his face and his hands. Tears burned down my cheeks and I knew what Will had done. I turned away from him without a word and buried my face in my hands, whispering, "No," over and over again, rocking back and forth, back and forth.

Will reached out and touched my arm but flinched away when I curled myself up into a ball and slid all the way down to the floor, wrapping the sheets that Hannibal and I had made love on around my body.

I faintly heard Will, Crawford, and the paramedics talking but I ignored them. I ignored everything, everyone.

The paramedics moved in close to me and one of them grabbed my arm, gently sliding a needle into my skin and pumping a sedative into my veins. I ignored them and allowed the world to slip away from me. I didn't feel warmth and I didn't feel comfort. I felt nothing.

When I stopped moving the paramedics slid me onto the body board they'd carried up the stairs and tucked the sheet around me, buckling and tightening the straps so that I wouldn't slip off.

Will stayed behind with Crawford as they carried me downstairs. Will walked over to the bed where I had been with Hannibal. Crawford spoke up, his voice a little rough with emotions. "I'm sorry it was you who had to shoot him, Will."

Will turned slowly to face Crawford. "I'm sorry it was me who had to shoot him too, Crawford." Will brushed past Crawford and headed out of the bedroom, not bothering to look back. "I think I'm done with the Bureau, Crawford."

Crawford called after Will. "You can't just quit like that, Will. I need you!"

Will stopped at the top of the stairs. "No, you don't need me, Crawford. You need my mind and I'm sorry to tell you but shooting…" Will choked on his words for a second. "Shooting the man I loved broke my mind, Crawford. Expect my resignation letter on your desk tomorrow."

Will walked down the stairs, past the FBI agents mingling around Hannibal's house, and into the kitchen where he'd seen my purse sitting on the counter. He picked it up and tucked it under his arm before leaving the house, hitching a ride with the ambulance holding me.

I didn't know it was Will when he took my hand but he did and he sat as close to me as possible. Tears ran freely down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, Midnight. I know I can never be forgiven but I promise to you that I will hold firm to the promise I made him before he died. I'll take care of you, Midnight, even if you hate me for the rest of my life."

* * *

_~The Times Newspaper~_

_London, England, UK_

_-September 22-_

_[Front page reads as follows:] The same day mass murdering cannibal Hannibal Lecter was killed by Special Agent William Graham, his body disappears on the way to the morgue. The morgue van was found abandoned on the highway just outside of London yesterday evening; Lecter's body, the driver, and assistant have all disappeared without a trace. Where have they gone? Are there body snatchers among us? More information to be provided at a later date._

* * *

[ **One Month Later** ]

Will was beside me as I took my first step out of the hospital since my breakdown. It seemed like months but it had only been one. For four weeks I had been drugged and strapped to the bed to protect myself.

Crawford had questioned me over and over until he was frustrated enough to leave me alone. The same thing happened with Will.

And as promised, the day after Will had killed Hannibal, he'd submitted his resignation from the FBI and the BAU.

Here and now, he was just a normal civilian.

We both were, because even though I would be watched by the FBI for the rest of my life to make sure I don't turn into a murderer, like the Collector or Hannibal Lecter, I would never work with them again. I would rather die.

As Will helped me slid into the passenger side of my car, I clutched at the purse that held a few of the things Hannibal had left me.

As Hannibal's legal wife, I now owned the house here in London and the house in Lithuania. I had more money than I knew what to do with, even though I wanted none of it.

There was also one more thing Hannibal had left me with…

The only reason I was being released a month after Hannibal's death was that they'd found out I was pregnant. They couldn't keep a pregnant woman drugged up and locked away so they released me.

We wouldn't be able to tell whose baby it was, since I'd slept with both Hannibal and Will, but in a few months I would be able to find out. Not that it mattered. I had loved Hannibal, and, even though I was angry with Will, I still loved him as well.

Now the only thing left for me to do was sell the house in London and move to the one in Lithuania with Will. I wanted a place where the both of us could peacefully raise our baby.

As Will slid into the driver's seat and started the car, he reached over and took one of my hands. I turned my head and stared into his beautiful, sorrow-filled eyes and smiled. He was hurting just as much as I was. "Are you ready, Mrs. Lecter?"

I brought his hand up to my lips and laid a gentle, warm kiss against his knuckles. "I am, Mr. Graham."


	8. Part 7: Four Years Later

**Part 7: Four Years Later**

* * *

 

Four years ago, I could never have dreamed that I would be living at the Hannibal estate in Lithuania with Will Graham and my twin daughters, Mischa Simonetta and Abigail Augustasia.

Finding out I was going to have twins, with Hannibal as one of the fathers of a twin, and Will as the other father of the other twin, was quite a shock. One would think it medically impossible, but there have been a few cases where two men share fatherhood of twins. Heteropaternal superfecundation is what the doctor's told me it was called.

Crazy indeed, but here we all were… all of us except for the second father, Hannibal.

Today, September 21st, was the four year anniversary of Hannibal. We did nothing special, but I never forgot to remember him every day since.

The sun was strong so I sat on the grass below the beautiful willow tree in the back yard, watching Mischa, Abigail, and Will playing in the garden. They were my sunshine and I couldn't help but smile as I watched. Will was a good father and he adored both of our daughters.

I was just reaching up to wipe away a tear that had slipped from between my lashes when I felt a shadow fall over me. At first I thought it was a cloud blocking out the sun, but the sky was cloudless. Then I felt a large hand gently brush along the back of my neck, playing with my curls.

I swallowed hard and slowly turned, expecting nothing to be there except the wind and the Hannibal house. Nothing but a ghost. But it wasn't.

The sun framed the tall silhouette of a man with shaggy grey brown hair that fell to his shoulders and brown eyes filled with love.

His face wasn't as full as it used to be; it was thinner and his cheekbones more prominent. But it was still the same, despite the years.

I let out a small sob as I struggled to my feet, still unsure if he was real.

It wasn't until I reached out to him, touching his chest, touching his hair, running my fingers along the bridge of his nose, and tracing the arch of his lips that I knew he wasn't a ghost.

My voice was the barest of whispers. "Hannibal."

His smile was like a gift from the heavens as he reached up and cupped my cheeks with both of his weathered, rough hands. His voice was the barest of whispers as well. "Midnight."

My tears could no longer be held back as I flung myself into his arms, my wails of happiness echoing all the way to Will in the garden.

Will stopped what he was doing, confused, until Hannibal's face came into view over my shoulder. He fell to his knees, tears falling down his own cheeks.

Mischa and Abigail didn't understand. They wrapped their tiny arms around Will and kissed away his tears. "Daddy, what is wrong?"

Will wrapped his arms around them as well, not bothering to stop crying as his voice croaked. "Nothing is wrong, loves. It's just that your other dad has finally come back."

Mischa and Abigail frowned and looked up to where Hannibal and I were still hugging. "But I thought you were our daddy, dad."

Will let out a choked laugh and hugged them both tighter as he stood, propping each on his hips and waited until they wrapped their legs around him. "I am, loves, but so is he. We both are. And God gave him back to us."

Mischa laid her head against Will's shoulder. "Does that make him an angel?"

Will choked on his answer as he stopped infront of Hannibal and I. "Yes, Mischa, that makes him an angel."

Hannibal waited for Will to sit the twins down before releasing me from our hug and offering the same to Will. Will slowly walked into Hannibal's arms, his whole body shaking.

"I'm so sorry, Hannibal. I'm so sorry."

Hannibal's arms wrapped tightly around Will and he laid kisses across his face. "There is nothing to be sorry for, Will. You did nothing wrong."

Will shook his head and buried his face in the hollow of Hannibal's shoulder and neck. "I killed you, Hannibal."

Hannibal let out the gentlest of laughs. "If you killed me, then how am I still alive?"

Will pulled back then with a sniffle, leaving a wet mark on Hannibal's shirt. "How  _are_  you alive?"

Hannibal moved back so that we both could see him together. He touched his side where Will's bullet had ripped through him. "You subconsciously shot me in a place that wouldn't kill me, but would make me bleed enough to look like I had. And then I just faked being dead."

Will clenched his fists. "You… you faked being dead?" Will was finally angry. "For four years, you made us think you were dead, but you weren't? How could you do that to us?"

Hannibal's eyes closed and he let out a slow breath. "I did it so that you both could start a new life without all the drama and pain I would bring to it."

I knelt down and held my arms out to Mischa. She walked over and hugged me so that I could pick her up. "Then why come back?"

Hannibal opened his eyes once again and I was taken aback by their beauty once more. He could take my breath away with just one look. "Because I couldn't stand being without you anymore… and because someone wouldn't let me."

I frowned. "Someone?"

Hannibal nodded and beckoned to someone behind the willow tree. A tall, beautiful Japanese woman stepped into sight and stopped next to Hannibal.

Hannibal smiled at Will. "I believe you know my friend, Chiyoh, Will."

Will finally smiled again. "Chiyoh! It's been many years. It's good to see you're doing well. You look as beautiful as ever."

Chiyoh laughed. "It's good to see you are doing well as well, Will."

Hannibal looked over at me, his smile gentle. "Chiyoh was the one who technically saved my life, patched me up, and took care of me for the past four years. She is also the one who booted me out of her house and sent me back here to you both."

I finally looked Chiyoh in the eyes, giving her my full attention. I wanted her to know how sincere I was. "Thank you for giving him back to us. I don't know how I can ever repay you. I…" Tears started streaming down my face again and I angrily wiped at them. "I thought I would never see him again and my heart broke every day since the day he was taken away from me." I looked over at Will, at Mischa in my arms, and at Abigail looking up at the towering Hannibal. "From us."

Chiyoh's elegant face flushed pink and she turned, heading away from us as she spoke over her shoulder. "There is no need to thank me. Just live a long life and never stop loving each other."

When she disappeared around the house, it was just Hannibal, Will, Mischa, Abigail, and I.

Hannibal slowly reached out and touched Mischa's beautiful brown curls the fell around her angelic face. "So, you and Will had twins then? They are beautiful." He reached out and touched Abigail's beautiful brown curls as well. She let out a little giggle as she clung to Will's leg.

I shook my head. "Not just Will, Hannibal. You're a father too."

Hannibal's eyes turned back up to me and I could see the utter confusing at my words. It was kind of funny to see. "I'm a father? Surely that's impossible, since I've been gone for four years."

I rolled my eyes. "Trust me, Hannibal. Just because you've been gone doesn't mean you couldn't have helped make a baby."

"But…"

I held Mischa out to Hannibal and Mischa held her arms out, waiting for Hannibal to take her into his own arms. He did and the both of them stared at each other before Mischa reached up and ran her hand against his hair. "Hi, daddy."

Hannibal looked from her, to me, to Will, and then down to Abigail before returning to look back at me. "I'm really a father?"

I nodded, tears still streaming down my face. "Mischa is yours, Hannibal. She is ours. Together. Just like Abigail is Will's. I have a beautiful daughter from each of the two men that I love with all of my heart."

Hannibal hugged Mischa to him and buried his face against his daughter's hair, letting his tears fall. "I'll never leave you all again. Ever."

I wrapped my arms around Hannibal and Mischa before Will picked up Abigail and hugged Hannibal, Mischa, Abigail, and I together.

We were finally one big happy family. Forever.

Hannibal pressed a kiss against Will's forehead. "I love you Will Graham." Then he leaned over a little and whispered into my ear as he pressed a kiss against my cheek. "I love you, Midnight Lecter."

**Author's Note:**

> [Author's Note: I've been working on this story for a few years and finally got the chance to finish it. I know that it is short and that there are canon and non-canon things present, but this is something that came to me in a dream that I needed to write. I have wanted to write something for Hannibal ever since I was a little girl and I got my grubby hands on the books and watched the movies as they came out - now I finally completed that dream! I hope that you enjoy reading! GO FANNIBALS!]


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